Do You Want to Live Forever?
by Kanzen ne Tsuki
Summary: LanguageViolenceGraphic Content.The Pure Bloods are waiting for the coming of 'The One' who will bing 'The Holy War Of Vengeance' with him, as well and the 'Fang of Justice' to rid the world of the 'Made'. It's Vampires with a TWIST. KK
1. Default Chapter

A/N: The new Epic by Kanzen ne Tsuki. This is A/U Rurouni Kenshin. The beginning takes place in 15th century Romania. The rest takes place in modern day New York City. No one will really be OOC to much... but I warn you all, there will be some new faces you haven't seen before... and a 'bad guy' you can really love to hate. wink. I am also warning that the rating is most definitely ( R ) for language... Lemon/Lime activity... blood/gore and graphic violence... but I also promise some humor, angst, and WAFF... gotta have WAFF.

Traditional pairings... no surprises there... possibility for a lot of hot and steamy stuff... I want to have fun with this, so no flames please. If you get reading this and you don't like it... just don't read it, Ok? I think that's fair. Don't you?

Otherwise, I'm a glutton for reviews... so give it to me baby... Kanzen ne Tsuki

Vampire Explanations–Author's creations– Quite possibly mostly non- tradional.

Pure Blood Vampires=Vampires that are able to reproduce their own kind through sexual intercourse just the same way as humans. And, just as humans do, the Pure Blood is graced with both a soul and a spirit... they do not live among the undead though they are as immortal as the next Vampire. They do not have to have blood solely to survive. They love fruit, fish, and fowl, but, of course, blood does remain the meal of choice. They are also warm to the touch, though not quite as warm as humans, and they have an affinity for classical music especially the piano. They are well mannered to a fault (usually) and demand only the finest in clothes, living arrangements, food and company. Falling in love is considered an art-form more than a way of life, but they are extremely devoted parents and mates once a family has been established. Blood means everything to them. However, they can also 'Make' Vampires the old traditional way we all used to... hunt, attack, bite, drink... bite themselves, have quarry drink their blood=New species of Vampire.

The Made Vampire=Made Vampire are sterile. They are also essentially dead in that they have no soul or spirit. They are not able to reproduce in the classical sense, but must rely on the same technique that created them. Their sub-species tends to be riddled with drugs and alcohol abuse, violent crime, syndicates, mobs, murder rings... and anything else that might even ring of the unsavory. They are unscrupulous, dishonest, perverse, and power hungry. In order to survive, each 'Made' Vampire must murder and drink the blood of no less than three adult human's every night. If they do not, they suffer great pain, psychosis, and even permanent brain damage if the pattern lasts for more than a month. They live wherever they can find a place... usually the apartment or home of a victim. They are always on the look out for a way to make money fast, and never seem to be able to stay faithful to anyone whether it be a 'mate' or an associate. They are as good at killing each other as they are at siring new members of the order, but it is well known all over the world that the one thing a 'Made' hates more than another 'Made' is a 'Pure Blood'.

Cast of Character'sAt this Moment of Time

Crede Corban=Only surviving member of the Pure Blood Monarchy

Magdelana Kamiya=Pure Blood Survior

Kaoru Kamiya=Pure Blood survivor-daughter to Magdelana

Soujiro Seta Kamiy=Pure Blood Survivor-son to Magdelan, brother to Kaoru

Edo Gallion=Pure Blood -Master of the Horse to the Old King-Crede's right hand

Gustav Uriel=Leader of The Made

Mara=small child-Pure Blood survivor

Do You Want To Live Forever?

Prologue

The Beginning

Some Vampires are 'Made.' Some are 'Born'… Others are waiting to be set free. It is yet to be known which of the three sub-species are the strongest or the most dangerous, but the War for supremacy has been being fought since the beginning when there was but a handful of each.

Now there are hundreds and thousands of Pure Blood's and 'Made's' locked in the arms of a unholy Civil War, and the battlefield runs red with both the blood of the vanquished and the victorious. But as the Victors argue and clamor amongst themselves for right to claim their prize and name themselves the strongest and the Ruler's by that right, one of the Ancient One's, who is nearing the end of her life, rises up from the blood and ashes of defeat and cries out the chilling words of a prophecy. A prophecy spoken for the future yet to come naming an Enemy as yet unseen by the usurpers, but promising vengeance against their unrighteous mutiny and murder of their Monarchy. Vengeance upon them for their blasphemous jealousies and unclean acts of treason... Vengeance for their impurity of spirit and unholy insult against the God of the Dark World, Pythagoras. The Father of all Pure Blood's.

A prophecy ultimately resulting in a race against time as the two warring factions struggle to find The One before their enemy does for each has their own agenda concerning his existence, for it is foretold that he will rise up in the latter days to become the leader of the Pure Bloods, and that he will strike down all of those who stand against them and the rightful Rulers of the Dark World. The thunder of his voice will ring through the night, and he will show no mercy to those who have wrought chaos upon the Vampire world. He will bring the Fang of Justice and with it, he will restore balance to the world of chaos that has been created by the unclean hands of 'The Made.'

He will be The Blood of Justice.

He will be The Master of the Darkness.

He will be The Fang of Pythagoras

.

Bukarest, Romania

1411

The battle had raged for hours, almost an eternity it seemed, but with the beheading of the King the will to live and fight seemed to evaporate from those few Pure Blood's who remained alive. 'What was left to fight for if the King and his family were dead?' The world that they knew was lost, and the swarming infestation of the 'Unclean Made' was bearing down upon the City of Ameck in a murderous frenzy of delight. The air itself seemed to be heavy almost thick with the sickening sweet stench of freshly spilt blood, and the scent of it was making those who still lived dizzy with illness and grief.

"So many dead... so many..." One dark-haired woman with glistening dark blue eyes whimpered as she stumbled across the blood-soaked alley behind her small home. Picking her way through the bodies on trembling legs, she led what was left of her family behind her; a small girl with long ebony hair and round frightened blue eyes so much like her own, and a young boy with dark brown hair and blue-gray eyes filled with tears and grief who clung to each others hands with the ferocity of the young. "Come on, my dear ones..." She crooned as she pulled the two small children through another alley. "We must find the Prince... That is what your Father said we should do if everything went badly... find the young Prince by the stone pathway that leads down the mountain... and we shall... we shall."

"But Mamma, where is Papa?" The young boy's lower lip quivered in fear and sorrow as he waited for the answer he knew was coming. "Isn't he coming with us?"

"No, Soujiro... Your Papa is not coming with us... He... He can't." Grief cracked in the young Mother's voice as she continued to pull her children through the dark back alley's of the City refusing to meet her son's tearful gaze.

"Papa's dead... isn't he?"

"Nooooooo...." The terrible wailing cry of the little girl brought the Mother to stop, and she swiftly turned and gathered the two children up in her embrace tightly pressing their little faces against the warmth of her breasts as tears began to stream down her face.

"Shhhhhh, my little ones." Her hands patted their small backs and stroked the baby softness of their hair. "Hush now... I know how sad you are... I am sad too, but we must be ever so quiet... Please Kaoru, you must be quiet, my sweetling."

"B-but M-mamma..."

"Shhhhh, I know, I know.... but if you are noisy, Precious... The Made will find us, and.... and..." she could not continue as the lump of emotion in her throat cut off her speech.

"They'll make us dead too, won't they?" Soujiro was two years older than Kaoru, making him seven to her younger five, but sometimes he seemed much older than those simple baby years.

"Yes, my love... they will kill us if they find us. So we must be ever so quiet. You understand, no?"

"Y-yes Mamma." And then he turned to his whimpering younger sister and wrapped his little arms around her pulling her tightly against his thin chest. "Don't cry, Kao... You have to be quiet, Ok? If you're not, we'll all get into lots of trouble."

"But Sou... Papa's dead..." The round blue sapphires gazed painfully into Soujiro's kind blue-gray saucers and the small boy leaned over and kissed his sister's tear wet face.

"I know Papa's dead, but I don't want to be dead too, do you?"

"N-no,"

"Ok, then, you have to be quiet like Mamma says. I promise I'll be right here by you."

"Will you hold my hand?"

"Haven't I been holding your hand already, stupid?" He sighed in sad frustration. "Come on... we have to find the Prince like Papa said to. Mamma know's the way. Don't you, Mamma?"

"Yes, darling, I know the way..." Magdelana Kamiya reached out and wiped the tears from both of her children's faces before standing up and taking Soujiro's hand in hers. "It's this way." She said softly and began to lead them through the alley again. Looking back over her shoulder, she noticed that Soujiro had a firm grip on his little sisters hand and that Kaoru was sucking on her thumb again. It was a good thing her canine fangs had yet to grow in all the way or she would be puncturing that much favored thumb constantly. _'Oh well,' _Maggie thought. _'I suppose that will be one way to eventually break her from that habit... she will do it herself.' _A very small smile curved the mouth of her beautiful face as she gazed at her small daughter_. 'I hope she doesn't grow up too soon.' _The sounds of the screaming and the dying started to become louder just then, and Maggie forced her children down on the ground before they made the last turn that would have taken them out into the main City Square in front of the Royal Palace.

Creeping along the cold earth to the end of the alley, Maggie slowly peered around the corner to see what was going on in the main street. Rearing back in shocked horror she immediately turned away and vomited convulsively onto the ground.

"Oh God... Oh God... Oh God...." Vomiting again and again Maggie tried to mentally block out what she had just seen, but knew she would never be able to forget the carnage and gore that had stretched out before her. Blood, bodies, body-parts... the whole Square was dripping with blood, and there seemed to be a river of it flowing down the dusky pink stone steps of the Palace... it was a massacre, and then a sound rose above the din of shouting and screaming. The sound of a single strong, unforgiving, unyielding voice that demanded to be heard, and Maggie found her gazing shifting back of its own accord. What she saw then would stay with her for years and years yet to come... as it would for many others for it was a living vision sent to them from God.

"For One will come whose blood will be thick will the Power of the Old Ways. His fangs will long as shining swords and he shall wreck death and mayhem among the unclean that infest our world, and he will bring The Blood of Justice to the Pure of Heart. The One will make our World whole again... he will bring the Holy War and with it Vengeance for your blasphemies and treasonous murders. He is our Master… Our King… Our Savior of Life and Blood and he will avenge our defeat and bring once more to this Land the true ways of the Blood Born. This I swear upon the unrighteously spilt Blood of all those who have died trying to protect that which is Pure of Heart." And as the blood of her life poured from the mortal wound gapping in her slender swan-like throat, the woman of such regal bearing struggled to speak one last time before the life forever closed her brilliant crystalline emerald eyes. "Look for The One where the Dark World and the World of The Living cross over in the light of the darkness. Look for him far to the future in a time where mortal men fly like raven and paintings speak with the voices of the living." And then the shine of those beautiful emeralds faded to flat and the sinuous lithe body slumped to the blood soaked ground in a heap of red and black silk her glorious white hair blowing in the breeze like liquid mist.

"RUN!" The word was shouted by one of the few who remained alive. A young man with flaming red hair and dark blue eyes. The fallen woman had been his Mother. Tears pricked his eyes as he frantically waved the few remaining pure bloods to follow him as he disappeared down the rocky pathway that led away from the gore covered battlefield that was littered with the bodies of hundreds of dead, including his Father and two older brothers. They were all gone. His entire family.

His Father and Mother had been the Monarchs of the Dark World for over 2000 years, as had The King's Father before him and his Father before him and back to the beginning. But too many of the pure bloods who lived beneath their rule had become careless in recent centuries and had started to practice the blasphemy of 'creating' Vampires out of the lower species of Human's with whom the Vampires had co-existed with harmoniously for millennia. These 'created' or 'made' Vampires were a nuisance to the Monarchy, but they chose to ignore them because there were times they were useful. Many of them were trained to be servants, whores, and even guards to the upper class pure blood families which caused them to become a sort of lower class minority of sorts among the Vampire community. It became a strict Law that each household was allowed no more than three 'made' Vampires at a time because the Monarchy and the High Council wanted to keep the numbers of these 'impurities' under a strict control.

It was discovered that the 'Made' Vampire's were sterile and unable to reproduce which was of great concern to many of them, but a relief to the Ruling Government. However, their relief was short lived as it was soon discovered they were able to 'sire' more of their own kind by using the same technique used upon them when they were 'made', and this was very disturbing because the Government could not seem to control them from 'siring' as many more of themselves as they wished to. And suddenly, almost over night it seemed, there were hundreds of them, and then thousands, and then… they wanted to control the City of Ameck and all of her inhabitants, including the Monarchy. They wanted to be the ruling faction and have the Pure Bloods to serve them.

That was how it all started. A massive revolt, an attempt to take over the Monarchy and The High Council by force. The Pure Bloods had resisted, but it had been a poor attempt. They were out numbered by more than four to one, and the shear numbers had defeated them.

Entire families were slaughtered. Men, Women, Children… Babies. The 'Made' swept through the community like a plague destroying everything in its path as it went leaving nothing untouched until it reached the palace itself. The King, his Queen, and their three son's had stood their ground on the massive pale pink granite steps while the King rebuked the 'Made' for their mutiny and disgrace against their own kind.

"YOU ARE NOT OUR KIND!" Their chosen leader, Gustav Uriel, had shouted as he mounted the first of the 35 steps with his bloodied sword in hand. "AND WE ARE NOT YOURS! We are more than you will ever hope to be… we are the strongest… we are the Greatest… it is WE who shall rule over YOU!" And then they had rushed the Royal family and the dedicated staff and guards who stood with them. Soon, the ancient blood of the Vampire Kings bled red and flowed upon the ground to mix with that of the other Pure Bloods who had already perished beneath the treasonous blades of the 'Made', but as the Horde shouted victory swinging the severed head of the King high for all to see, the dying Queen rose and cried out The Prophecy of The One before giving up her soul to the land of the dead.

Now, her only surviving son led what was left of his Father's people down the stone steps of the mountain path toward the sea. He could hear it crashing against the cliffs as he and his small frightened group grew closer to the bottom, and soon they could feel the soft spray of the salt water on their faces.

"This way." Motioning with his hand, the young boy led the people across the moonlit beach until they reached the side of the steepest cliff and its jagged out croppings.

"Where are we going, Your Highness?" It was the frightened voice of a very small girl with large brown eyes and long golden hair. Her pretty face was splattered with blood and there were tiny rips in her lower lip where she had torn the tender flesh with her own fangs as she bitten herself in terror. She looked to be all of perhaps nine or ten years old.

"Just follow me, Sweetling. I promise we will be safe."

"You promise?" Her frightened eyes searched his lean handsome face.

"Aye. I promise." Trying to smile through his own grief, the boy took her small hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly. "I promised my parents I would keep you all safe if I could."

"You did?" Her eyes grew wide and round as they filled with uncertainty. "B-but the King and Queen are dead… how could you p-promise them?"

"In my heart, little one… I promised them in my heart." The sheen of unshed tears glistened in his eyes as he locked gazes with her letting her see the truth that was in his heart. "And those are the most important promises anyone can make. So… do you trust me?"

"A-aye, I t-trust you, Your H-higness."

"Thank-you." His hand squeezed hers again and he nodded in affirmation of her acceptance. "What is your name?" He asked.

"Mara."

"Mara," He tested it on his tongue and then looked down into her face again. "Pretty name… Mara. My name is Crede… Crede Corban. I don't feel much like a 'your highness' anymore, so how about we all just stick to 'Crede', Ok?" He looked out into the shocked pale faces of the group that had followed him down the mountain path and finally took count.

43. 17 children; six under the age of 15. 26 adults; 14 men, 12 women. And himself. He was 16 his last bithyear. That made 44 survivors out of a community of over 8,000 people. _'Dear God,' _Crede bowed his head in grieving sorrow as the magnitude of the loss of souls hit him. _'So many… so many gone… Mother, Father, Toben, Jaken… all gone…' _Tears began to slide down his young face as the pain started to squeeze his heart. 'I can't…'

"Master Crede?" The touch of a warm hand on his shoulder brought Crede out of his grief-stricken thoughts and he looked up into the face of someone he did not know. It was an older man of perhaps middle aging… his hair had begun to turn white while the rest of him remained as youthful as a man of 30 human years.

"I… what?"

"Where are you taking us? You seemed to have stopped… Sunrise is not far off, and we must reach safety."

"Yes, yes… forgive me. This way." Crede stumbled away from the man and swiftly resumed the path he had originally been leading them on before Mara had captured his attention, and within only a few moments he had led them into the narrow opening of a natural cave carved into the base of the cliffs. "Here," He called and waved for everyone to enter ahead of him. "Come, quickly. The Sun will rise soon and we must be inside before it does." No sooner had the words left his mouth than the pale pink hues of the new dawn began to shimmer across the sky and the faint glow of gold stared to appear upon the horizon. "Hurry!" He shouted and everyone began to run.

The last soul raced through the narrow gap swiftly followed by Crede just as the first golden rays of morning sunlight slid across the pale white sand of the beach and fingered their way across and past the opening of the cave. The frightened Pure Bloods within sat safely several feet above the opening watching as the tendril of light snuck through and fluttered across the sandy floor of the cave where they had been standing only an instant before, but true to his word, Crede had led them all to safety and they were well out of the way of the deadly burning heat of those destroying rays.

"We are safe." The man who had spoken to Crede breathed in relief and he was echoed by several other relieved voices. "We are in your debt, Young Master. You have saved all our lives. Your Father would be proud."

"I…" Crede bowed his head and felt the great burden of being a leader weighing heavily upon his young shoulders, but with it came a small sense of self-pride. His Father would be proud. He had brought what remained of their people to safety, now all he had to do was find a way to keep them safe from the army of the murdering Horde of the 'made'. "Thank-you." His dark blue eyes rose to meet the clear gray eyes of the man in front of him. "Tell me your name."

"I am called Edo, Master Crede. I was your Father's Horse Master."

"Why don't I know you then?" Crede's brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Because you never really cared for horses, Master Crede. You have not been to the stables

since you were but a youngling of five or six, and I had black hair and a beard back then."

"A beard… black hair… Ohhhhhh," Suddenly Crede's eyes lit up with recognition as he gazed at the man. "Horse Master Gallion!" He said in surprise as a smile curved his handsome mouth.

"Aye. That was my name. Now, it is just Edo." The man smiled in return. "However, I did serve your Father for many long years, Young Master. It would please me to serve you as well, because, I fear, whether you want it to be so or not… these people are going to look to you as theirLeader simply because you are the King's son."

"I am aware of that, Edo. And I do need someone who is wiser than myself that can help me. I fear I know little about leading people."

"I think you know more about Leading people than you think you do, Master Crede. It's in your Blood."

"My Blood…" Crede looked around the cave at the battle ravaged people as each struggled to find a place to sleep, and watched as many snuggled up against each other both for comfort and for warmth. "There are so many dead, Edo… so many…" With his large blue eyes filled with a determination that belied his young age, Crede turned and looked at the older man. "We cannot stay in Bukarest, Edo. I have to get what is left of my Father's people out of here… out of this World… out of this country. If I do not, the 'made' will find eventually find us and kill us all, and I cannot let that happen. You heard what my Mother said about the coming of 'The One'."

"I heard… But where will we go?"

"I do not know… but we must hide. We must hide like children and rats in the dark. Thereare not enough of us to fight, so we must hide. The day will come when we can avenge what happened today on this battlefield, but until then, we must hide."

"Yes, Master Crede. You are right. We must hide. All of us, and none of us together."

"Yes…" The boy-man's face took on the look of one in deepest thought as he considered the older man's suggestion. "None of us together… no more than two or four in each group. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

And so the decision was made to scatter the remnants of the Pure Blood colony to the four winds of the known world, and then let Fate rule the course of the Hand of Destiny. Only Fate knew when 'The One' would arise and where and the only sure way to preserve what remained of the Pure Blood was to hide it all over the World.

"Look for 'The One' where the Dark World and The World of the Living cross over. Look for him far to the future where men can fly and paintings speak."

The fight for survival had begun, and the clock of salvation was ticking.

There it is... the first installment of 'Do You Want to Live Forever?'

Remember, I'm a glutton for reviews... so make me fat... () Tsuki-san


	2. It's In The Alley

A/N:First Chapter after the Prologue... Ok, I know there are a lot of things that are very obvious... I won't go into them because they are so OBVIOUS, but there are reasons for that... Civil War is going to break out early so everybody needs to be in place early... it's going to get bloody, sticky, and just plain messy really fast... don't worry... plenty of KenKao fluff with a unique twist... and the 'BAD GUY' is going to be a bit of a surprise... HEHEHEH.... Old Faces in NEW Clothes so-to-speak. Anyway... This is A/U... duh! Hope you are all prepared... not the usual K/K thing... going to be very off the wall.... so no flames for OOC — can't say I didn't warn you early. Tsuki-san

Vampire Saliva=a naturally occurring toxin in 'Pure Bloods' only. Used to cauterized a wound to decrease secondary blood-loss, dissolve surrounding soft tissue and skin for easier access to blood vessels, and also containing a neuro-toxin that is used to immobilize prey if that is so desired. (Purely Author's creation for plot development–all of these things can be used at Vampire's will or not. Source and cause explained in later chapters).

Characters:

Kenshin Himura=Homicide Detective, Captain

Sanosuke Sagara=Homicide Detective, Sergeant

Gwen=Prostitute

Cheryl=Prostitute

Nick Vasquez=Scumbag Pimp

Chapter One

New York

April, 2004

It's In The Alley

"Ok, it's official, Captain. This is the third one this month." The tall gangly dark haired Sergeant tossed the yellow manila envelope onto the ever-silent red-haired detectives desk, which was already piled high with homicide case files. This one just added to the chaos that lived there as a permanent tenant.

"Just like the other ones?" He did not even bother looking up at his partner as he continued to methodically leaf through the brown folder he was already holding.

"Yup. Just like the others. Big gaping hole in his neck, not much blood around the scene, and not discernable fingerprints anywhere."

"But still just as dead?" The sarcastic hint of humor brought a half smile of appreciation to the Sergeant's lean face as he shook his head in amusement. The Captain was a real piece of work.

"Yeah… still just as dead."

"Hmmmm… you ever stop to wonder just who out there could possibly have it in for our low-life, scum-sucking, junkie, douche-bag pimps, Sano? I mean… who in their right mind would wanna whack one of these guys let alone three?" The brown folder was lowered to the desk and a pair of devious if not intelligent violet eyes raked over the chuckling Sergeant who was now leaning up against a large filing cabinet. "Their the meat and potatoes of the 'come and fuck up my life' community, so who would have such a big grudge as to want to start picking them off one at a time?" The sardonic expression on the lean handsome face was only amplified by the thin gold wire-framed glassed he wore, which at the moment were setting perched on the end of his nose.

"Well, let's see." Sano scratched at the stubble of beard on his chin and cheeks absently as he pondered the amused question. "There's the Hookers they use for punching bags every night, the drug dealers they cheat and lie to on a regular basis, the club owners they steal business from... Hell, I don't know… everybody maybe?"

"Good one… but I don't think so. This guy we're dealing with here is way to careful to be one of those slap-happy idiots… he's too cold... too methodical… and way too precise… creepy bastard."

"You got that right. You know the last coroner's report said they found some sort of foreign substance inside the wound. Said it had both liquid and crystal properties in it, but that it almost had the consistency of some kind of saliva or something? They have been running tests on the stuff but they can't figure out what it is, shit, they don't even know if it's poisonous or not."

"Yes, Sano. Actually I did know that. I read the report. Did you also know that they think the wound could be some sort of a bite mark, but they are not quite sure because there is too much tissue displacement to be sure?"

"A bite mark? Damn! That would be one hellofa mouth if it was. Have to be a damn big dog to make a mark like that."

"True, but the trouble with that theory is this, dogs are not that clean with a kill. They like to chew and worry over their prey. Whatever is leaving this mark, this likes to take its time because it enjoys what it is doing. Yes," The detective nodded, and pushing the thin wire-framed glasses back up on his nose, reached for the new envelope and dumped its contents out on his desk. "It enjoys it very much. Very much indeed."

As the grisly crime scene photo's slipped free of the envelope and fluttered across the mountain of papers, several immediately caught his eye and he reached out and picked them up. Slowly flipping through them one by one, he began to notice something a bit strange and so he gathered up the rest of the pictures and carefully put them all in order according the numbers printed down in the lefthand corner. Once this was done, he started over and began to carefully examine each one for the smallest out-of-the-ordinary details.

After going through them for the third time, he began to line them up on his desk so he could look at all 15 of them at the same time. As he finished his task, he stood up and started a close perusal of the layout.

"Look at this." He motioned for the Sergeant to come and see what he was pointing out. "Do you see that? And that?"

"See what, Captain?" Sanosuke Sagara had the utmost respect for his partner, but every so often, he was fairly certain the guy was off his rocker the way he went off on his evidence inspection tangents. "I don't see anything."

"Look… here, and here… and here. Don't you see it?" The exasperation in the red heads voice was impatience at its best. "Look at his hair, the collar of his shirt… his hands, for God's sake. Look at his hands."

"What? I don't get it. What are you getting at, Kenshin?" Sano was looking at the same pictures but he sure was not seeing the same thing as his high-strung and obviously agitated partner.

"His hair is still neat and combed… see? Not one hair is out of place. There isn't a single drop of blood on his collar… not one, and his hands… Look at his hands, Sano. No defensive wounds. No scratches, no bruises… this guy didn't even crack a nail during the struggle... if there was one. Hell, his clothes aren't even dirty."

"Jesus, you 're right. He's just laying there like he's asleep… all peaceful and everything."

"That's right… peaceful... quiet... calm... no real evidence of trauma except the wound in his throat. What do you think that mean's?"

"Whatever hit him did it fast… really fast."

"Fast isn't the word, my friend." Kenshin Himura's glittering violet eyes turned to meet the bewildered gaze of his long time partner and friend. "Whatever hit him, hit him so fast that not only did he not have the chance to defend himself, he didn't even have the chance to breath, blink, or bleed."

"You saying something grabbed him, tore his throat open, sucked him clean, then just dropped him on the ground and left?" Incredulity lay heavy in the tall detectives voice. "That is insane… even for you."

"Ok, then how about this instead… Something grabbed him, knew exactly how and where to tear his throat open, sucked him clean of every last drop, LAID him on the ground without so much as mussing his hair, and then 'walked' away."

"Ahhh, bullshit!"

"You got a better idea?" Thin shapely dark brown eyebrows rose in questioning mockery as Kenshin challenged Sano to come up with a better explanation for the confusion evidence in the photographs. "If you do, I'm waiting to hear it… we got alllll night."

"I ain't saying nothing 'til I look at the other crime scene photo's, so you stay right here, Mr. Brainpan, and I'll be right back."

"Take your time… It's not like I'm going anywhere."

"Geez, you really are a pain in the ass, do you know that?"

"That's what my Mom always told me."

"Go Mom." As he walked away, Sano could hear his partners low rumbling laughter following him like a stray dog nipping at his heels. 'Damn smart-mouthed, know-it-all sonofabit…' He never could help but smile and chuckle at some of the stuff that rolled out of that guys mouth sometimes. Sure he was probably the smartest cop, and the smartest person Sano had ever met, but damn! Some of the wild hair-brained shit He came up with… the only problem was he was almost always right. _'Fuck him.'_

Pulling open the second drawer of the five drawer filing cabinet, Sano searched through the dozens of case files until he found the one he was looking for and pulled it out.

File # 88732 Broadway Murders/Crime scene Photo's/Witness Statements/Police Reports/Evidence Reports/Coroner Reports

Case # 3779 Jimmy Panter

Case # 1468 Avery Nox

"Here, let's lay these out over here on the conference table so we can see all of them… good idea?"

"Yeah, good idea… I'll bring these, you start laying those out."

"Gotcha." And the two men began to carefully lay out the three sets of evidence photos until they were all in place and could be easily visualized. "Ok, Sherlock, you see anything else going on here?"

"Yes, that I do."

"What? You do? Where? What?"

"Same thing as I showed you before… Damn! I don't know how I missed it the other two times. It's just the same… Hairs neat, clothes clean, no defensive wounds… same damn thing on all three bodies." Kenshin was scratching his chin and shaking his head in incredulity as his stared at the myriad of photos spread out on the table. "Just the same..."

"Shit! You're right…" Dark brown eyes stared at the shocking evidence before them as if they had never seen anything like it before, and the seasoned detective prepared himself to eat a little crow as he cleared his throat. "Ahem... Ok, you sold me on the no fight-no struggle thing, and you even sold me on the idea that something real weird hit these guys like a fucking freight train and sucked 'em clean before they even had time to get scared and piss on themselves.. So what the hell is going on? What do you think is doing this?" Looking over at the intently thinking red-head, Sano voiced the last question he really wanted to know the answer to. "You got any ideas?"

Kenshin started to laugh under his breath as he turned to meet his partners questioning gaze. "Shit, Sano, if I told you what I think, you'd call IA on me and have me locked up in the looney bin."

"Right. I could have done that a long time ago with some of the shit you've come up with, but I haven't, have I?"

"Suppose not. But this is a little bit different, Sano. This is… well, this is just way too far out there... Even for me."

"Bloody hell, will you stop treating me like I'm in kindergarten and just tell me."

"Bloody hell? Interesting you should to put it quite like that."

"Huh?" Sano favored his eccentric partner with an extremely confused looked as he felt the first real shivers of doubt and apprehension slither their way into his stomach. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Well, what is the one thing in this world we all know that loves blood, needs it to live, and would be capable of subduing a grown adult male without leaving so much as one hair out of place if it so chose too?" Sano's face sunk into deeper confusion as he listened to Kenshin's bazaar questions. "What do we know that has that kind of craving and that kind of strength… and it lives and hunts it prey in the dark of the night?"

"Oh Dear God, Kenshin." Sano reared back in stunned outraged as understanding dawned inside his mind. "You can't possibly be serious. A Vampire? Are you trying to tell me a fucking Vampire did this? Have you lost your crazy little mind?"

"Look at the facts, Sano. Clean body, no blood at the crime scene or on the victims clothing, victim drained of blood, no evidence of a struggle, no defensive wounds, one very clean neck wound, crystallized… What do you think?" Shrugging in a nonchalant manner than said he did not have any other answers, Kenshin turned his attention back to the photo's on the table and started to rub his chin again.

"What does the crystallized saliva shit have to do with Vamps? I've never heard of that before?"

"It's something I read once a long time ago when I was just a kid." Kenshin pulled his glasses off and began chewing on one of the ear pieces. "There was an old book my Grandfather had hidden away in a box up in his attic. I found it one day when I was screwing around up there looking inside of all his old musty trunks and stuff. It was wrapped up inside of a ragged piece of black silk, and I remember curling up in one of the corners with it and reading all afternoon. It was some sort of an old history text or mythology account written in the Old Language."

"Old Language? Ok, you lost me. What's the Old Language?"

"It was a dialect of Romanian that my Ancestor's spoke a long, long time ago when they lived in Romania. Grandfather's side of the family has always tried to keep the language alive by teaching all of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren to speak and read the language so that it wouldn't die... So it was easy for me to read the book."

"Shit! I never knew you spoke another language."

"There isn't much call for a 400 year old dialect of Ancient Romanian, Sano." Kenshin smiled indulgently and both men chuckled.

"I suppose not."

"I remember reading that book all day... I couldn't put it down. It told a tale about the Ancients and the 'Made's', and a huge bloody Civil War that happened hundreds of years ago on the high planes of Bukarest."

"Civil war… Bukarest? You almost make it sound like it was real or something."

"I don't know, but when I read it… It almost did sound like it was real."

"Jesus, Kenshin…"

"No, listen to me, just for a minute listen, and then tell me I'm crazy."

"Fine, whatever… What about this civil war thing."

"Well, in the beginning there were only 'Pure Blood' Vampires. Those are Vampires who are born that way."

"You mean Vamps can breed and have baby Vamps?"

"Yes, that was what it said."

"Way bazaar." He mumbled.

"But in later years, after some sort of an alliance was made with the Human population, some of the Pure Bloods began indulging in a frowned upon practice of 'making' vampires out of some of the humans."

"The way we know… I bite you and suck your blood, I bite me you suck my blood… bingo, you're a Vampire?"

"More or less, yes. But something happened and the 'made' vampires revolted against the Pure Bloods, and all but slaughtered every last one of them. A very small group escaped and fled the homeland to hide in various parts of the world until 'The Coming of The One'."

"The One?"

"Supposedly there is a prophecy that one day a Vampire who is a descendant from the Royal Bloodline will rise up in the future and he will avenge the deaths of those who were slaughtered, and he will being justice back to the World of Darkness or something like that."

"And just how is he supposed to do that?"

"By bringing a holy war against the Horde of The Made and destroying them all."

"Great… Just great… but none of what you just said explains the crystal spit stuff."

"It's Vampire saliva, Sano. It is like a cauterizing substance that prevents the wound from bleeding once the Vampire has finished feeding. It also helps to dissolve the living tissue around the blood vessels once the Vampire has bitten its victim making it easier to feed. That is why the wound is so large and so clean."

"Then why are we always hearing about the two puncture wound bite marks? Is that just a made up thing or what?"

"No, the two puncture wounds are the signature mark of a 'made'. The gapping wound in the throat like these three guys are sporting is the tell tale sign of a Pure Blood." Sano's brown eyes turned into huge earthen pits of horrified shock as he began to let what his partner was telling him sink in and make sense. His troubled gaze shifted from Kenshin's intent look back to the pictures spread out across the table and he finally began seeing them for what they were. Victims. Prey. Dinner.

"Shit." A wave of nausea washed over him as he began to imagine what must have happened when each of these poor bastards had died. True, he really did not feel sorry for any of them, but to be taken out like that? A shudder coursed though his tall frame and he shut his eyes trying to block out what his mind was trying not to let solidify into a picture in front of him.

"Wicked way to go, no?" Kenshin's voice almost sounded reverent... respectful... odd?

"No, shit."

"At least it was fast, which is more than these pieces of shit deserved, but… damn. What a way to go."

"Do you think they all look like Gary Oldman in 'Dracula'?"

"No, Sano." Kenshin started to laugh and then thumped his friend on the back. "I think they look like regular people, and no one can tell them from the person they are standing next to... That is what I think."

"That's even worse." The water cooler bubbled as Sano fetched himself a cold drink in an attempt to calm his nerves. "Then we'll never know what we're looking for."

"Maybe, maybe not. " Kenshin was scratching at the back of his head like he always did when he was trying to figure something out. "I think I need to pay my Grandfather a visit."

"Your Grandfather? What for?" The water cooler bubbled again.

"See if he still has that old book , for one, and to see if he knows anything about Pure Bloods for another." That old man know's something... that he does.

"Kenshin, your Grandfather has got to be in his 90's for Christ's sake. Do you think he can remember anything other than his own name?"

"Hey, Gramps is still just as sharp as he ever was." Violet eyes snapping with irritated anger pinned Sano to the spot he was standing in. "If you don't believe me, why don't you come with me and see for yourself. He asked about you the last time I went anyway."

"He-he did?"

"Yes… He did. He wanted to know if you had gotten up of your lazy ass and asked that pretty doctor-lady out yet?"

"Megumi?" Sano squeaked falsetto and began blushing profusely. "How did he know about her?"

"Because you told him, you idiot… last year at Christmas dinner."

"Oh yeah." He smiled a sheepish embarrassed smile as he shrugged his shoulder. "I forgot."

"Sheesh! And you think HE'S forgetful. What a moron." Kenshin started to stuff the pictures back into the case folder. "I ought to tell him what you said."

"Oh hey, wait a minute… ah, don't do that… I was only kidding, Ken. I didn't mean anything by it." Inwardly Kenshin smiled as he listened to his friend shitting backwards trying to cover up his grand phoepah where his Grandfather's memory and credibility were concerned.

"All right, fine. But I'm still going to make you go with me. He asks about you all the time."

"Great… just great."

"Ahh, quite your moping. You'll get a free meal out of it."

"I will." Immediately Sano's mood lightened and his eyes got bright with anticipation. Kenshin's Grandfather might be older than the hills, but he was one hellofa good cook. "When we leaving?"

The two girls standing on the street corner were both wearing less than they actually had on. Neither skirt did much to cover more than the barest curve of their ass and the juncture of their crotch. The tiny brunette had on a pair of fishnet stockings that had seen better days. But her five-inch, blood-red platform heels and matching brassiere more than made up for the other imperfections. Her mousy haired partner was wearing a tight white knit tube-top and matching four-inch spikes without hose, and her face, though heavily made up, showed several dark bruises around both of her eyes. She was extremely nervous although her perky friend seemed not to notice.

"Cheryl?" Her voice was small and whiney.

"What?"

"I need to go... I have to get home before my mom leaves."

"What are you talking about, Gwen? You can't just leave... Nicky'll have your ass if you do."

"I can't help it. She's... She's watching my little girl, and I have to go... She won't stay after one." Gwen's face became urgent and fearful. "Tami's only 3... I can't leave her there by herself."

"You should've thought about that shit before you got pregnant, stupid... If you don't turn at least $500 tonight, Nicky'll beat the shit out of you worse than ever."

"But..."

"No buts... You're the one who wanted a pimp... remember?"

"I know, but... I didn't know it was going to be like THIS... I can't stay, you know I can't."

"I don't know nothing. That's your problem, girly, not mine."

"Dammit! Why won't you help me? This is my baby we're talking about."

"That's it, sweetie-pie... YOUR baby, she ain't mine... YOUR problem, not mine."

"Damn you... I hate you!" Tears started to stream down Gwen's face as she struggled to find an answer to her dilemma and found none. She knew Cheryl was right, if she left again, Nicky would no doubt beat her worse than he ever had before... but she couldn't leave Tami home alone again. If she did...

"I have to go..."

"Whatever... It's your funeral."

Gwen rushed down the alley with one thought preying on her frantic mind. 'Tami...' It was one-thirty in the morning. Her mom had left a half an hour ago which meant if Tami woke up, she would find herself all alone again, and if that happened again...

"Oh God.... help me get there, please don't let her wake up... please... I don't want to lose her, she's all I've got that's mine. Please, God... Keep her sleeping... please..." Then suddenly a big brown hand snaked out from nowhere and smashed into the front of her neck throwing her backward onto the ground with bone-jarring force. As she slammed onto the pavement, Gwen began coughing in a harsh uncontrollable manner. Pain lanced through her windpipe and jaw and her hands wrapped themselves around her throbbing neck in an instinctive show of self protection.

"Well, well, well... what have we here... a little runaway birdy?" The nauseatingly smooth voice of Nick Vausquez oozed its way into Gwen's ringing ears and she felt a lightening bolt of fear stab through her heart and soul as she realized he was what had stopped her head long flight down the alley. 'Oh God,' She thought hysterically. 'He's gonna kill me...'

"Now... Aren't you just the prettiest little birdy..." Nicky reached down and ran his hand in an almost loving gesture over the coughing, sobbing girl's sweat damp hair until he reached the back of her head. Once there he immediately grabbed a fist full of her mousy locks and twisted it tightly up in his hand yanking her head back at a harsh angle. "Too bad you won't be pretty for very long... eh, little birdy? Heheheheheh..."

"Oh God, please don't hurt me..." She was crying, tears flooding the thin hollows of her cheeks as she struggled to pull herself free from his malicious grasp. "I... have to... g-get home to my b-baby.." But all that she heard was his cruel foul laughter as he forced her head back even farther until Gwen was certain her neck was going to snap. Little blue, white, and pink daisies and stars began to explode in front of her eyes as the pain blossomed in the base of her skull, and the world started to go dark... 'Tami.....'

"Hey, Nicky..." The smooth silky voice floated like smoke on a spring breeze down through the foul-smelling alley and slid velvet gloved hand's along the sensual nerve endings of the Pimp's already cocaine high senses. "Wanna come and play with the big girls, Baby?"

"Who... Wha... Where you at?" Glazed glittering brown eyes darted around the narrow space searching for the woman who belonged to that amazingly hot voice, but Nicky could not see anyone about but himself and this stupid whore who was trying to run out on him. "Come on out, Sweet-thing, I can't see ya..." He was trying like hell to make his voice sound smooth and cool so whoever she was she would at least show herself. If she was anything to match her voice... she was a killer, and the hard-on he had already was just about to rip out of the seams of his black leathers.

"You don't need to see me, Baby." She crooned to him in that satiny voice that nearly had him creaming in his pants. "I can see you just fine... so why don't you get rid of your grimy little friend so we can be alone... hmmmm?"

"I.... ah..." _Shit! _ He really wanted to get his monies worth off this bitch tonight. It was the third time in a month she had ditched her corner and she was costing him the profits he knew he could get off her skinny ass, and he had really had it with her. He was just aching to feel some of her bones crunching between his fingers tonight... but... that voice... Goddamn! But his cock was hard!!

"I'm over here, Lover-boy... If you want something good, you're going to have to come and get it... come on, Baby... you want something good, don't you?" It sang, it purred... it vibrated in his blood, and he knew he had to have her... he had to. The hunger was like a fire in his soul and it burned along his skin until he thought he might scream with the need and desire that was suddenly consuming him... Suddenly he was throwing the whore from his grip and charging blindly into the shadows in search of the woman who belonged to that mesmerizing voice. He knew he would go insane if he didn't feel her body crushed beneath his soon... if he was not inside of her soon... if she was not his... but...

"Hello Nicky... I have been waiting for you... you've been a very bad boy, haven't you?."

"Oh Dear God," The most incredible sapphire blue eyes he had ever seen in his life glittered in the dark as if they bore a light source all their own. For the briefest moment his mind wondered about that fact, but then the thought was swept away and forgotten as her face materialized before him. "Beautiful..." He whispered as the features of an Aphrodite statue framed with hair blacker than the night itself drew near to his face. "So incredibly beautiful... God in Heaven..."

"God had little to do with it, My Sweet Nicky..." She whispered in that astonishingly sensual voice as her sinuous body pressed itself against his and molded it every curved and plane while her nubile arms wound possessively around his neck and shoulders. "Time... My Darling... Time has made me what I am... not God. You are pleased, no?"

"Oh yessss.... oh yesss..." Hardly breathing, Nick bent into her and brushed his lips against her finding them hot and softer than anything he could have ever imagined. A long heavy moan escaped him as he was suffused with a desire that filled his mind and took full control of all of his action, and as the primitive side of him arose, his mouth hardened and he seized her lips in a hard hungry kiss of passion and lust. As he held her head still forcing her to succumb to his deepest kiss, her long ebony hair became tangled in his hands while his tongue plundered the deepest treasures of her mouth.

Moan after moan was ripped from his throat as his ravished her mouth, her throat, her face and yet she made not one noise but simply stood willing in his embrace letting him have his way until it seemed his passion would burn them both alive with its heat.

"You want me, Nicky?" The breathlessly spoken question rose between them as his mouth skidded a path of liquid fire along her creamy throat. "You want to Love me, My Darling One?"

"Oh God, yes.... I want you... I want you more than anything I've ever wanted...."

"More than your little whore's, Nicky? Do you want me more than your little whore's?"

"Yes, Baby... Always more than them... they mean nothing to me... just you... it'll always be just you. I swear it. Just you... Just you, forever..."

"Forever, Nicky? Forever?"

"Forever, Baby... Forever..."

"Isn't that a pretty dream, Nicky...? Forever?"

"Huh? What did you say?" Confused he pulled away from her and looked into her porcelain perfect face. "What?"

"Forever, Darling... Isn't it a pretty dream?"

"I... I don't understand what your talking about?"

"I know you don't... That is why it is such a pretty dream... because YOU will never know anything about it you disgusting bastard!" Suddenly her eyes changed from glowing sapphire lanterns to flaming red coals of fire and Nick sucked in a breath of fear as he froze in terrified shock. "You are the thief of forever, Nicky... but not anymore... You don't get to live forever, you sack of vomitus slag... YOU GET TO DIE!"

"Noooo...." His voice became a tiny squeaking whisper of terror as he watched the two very long canine teeth growing before his eyes reach a length of well over an inch. They were pure milky white and seemed to glow in the dark as she smiled up at him and playfully flicked her small pink tongue through the gap between them.

"It's Ok, Nicky." She crooned into his terrified face. "It'll only hurt for a minute." And then suddenly she was burrowing into the curve of his neck, but still he could not seem to move... somehow, in the process of seducing him she had rendered him incapable of fleeing and he was her unwilling frozen prey fully alert, terrified, and unable to run or fight as he felt those long razor-sharp fangs sink into the flesh of his throat and puncture both his jugular and carotid arteries.

'I'm dying... God.... Heellpp...' Oddly, there was little pain... but then, his life drained out of him so quickly he hardly had the opportunity to register that he was dead before he was gone and she was laying him on the ground.

"Fuck-you, Nick Vasquez." The beautiful ebony haired Vampire woman spite on the ground next to the body (the first time she had ever done that after one of her kills), and then turned and walked away into the darkness of the shadows. "One less fucking Pimp-asshole for the world to deal with... good riddance sewer-rat... don't expect any roses at the funeral, maybe a box of old dogshit, but no roses."

A/N: there it is!!

How was it???

You review... I write More...

You no tell if you like... I no write anymore.... I'm a glutton for reviews... so make me fat :)


	3. History Lesson's

A/N: Before anyone has a Cow and Flames me, I do not view people who watch Soap Opera's as couch potatoes or degenerates of a baseline IQ. A lot of my closest friends are Soap-aholics... I am not. No big deal, to each his or her own. I am merely using the endless stream of human doldrums/Soaps/couch potatoes/increasing number of lazy people as a euphemisms for the way we human beings take so many things in our lives for granted... and how we tend to forget about the things that really matter. It is a known Psychological fact, that some viewers do tend to lose themselves in the pseudo-reality of a 'Soap Opera' in exchange for the dullness, depression, or unsatisfactoriness of their own lives. It is a very sad phenomena... but it does happen. These are very lonely, sad, and unfortunate people, but they are in no way degenerate or stupid... just very unfortunate.

Chapter Two

History Lesson's

The Morning came early the way mornings often do, and no one was quite prepared for it as was the usual case. Alarm clocks began ringing, buzzing, and blaring loudly all over the city as 0600 dawned and it became time for another day in the world of the living to begin.

Another day to skip the required daily dose of bran to keep the body regular in favor of a triple

mocha cappuccino and a blue-berry muffin from the corner 7-11.

Another day to yell at the kids to hurry up and get ready for school, eat breakfast, and catch the damn bus, and "Oh, by the way, don't smoke, drink, or do drugs... I love you... bye."

Another day to indulge in the endless sea of Soap Opera Drama's so that the problems of living

can be drowned inside the oblivion of fantasy lives while the important things fade into the grays of the forgotten places within the infinite uncharted regions of the mind scape.

Another day to eat fast food and while licking the salty grease from each finger, using the

super-sized died soda setting in the console cup-holder to rationalize the inner white lie of 'I'm

still keeping with the diet rules' to prevent any feelings of guilt from ruining a good lunch.

Another day to rush through the crowded subway tunnels trying to catch the train and

making it to the 'salt mines' on time so that 'The Boss' won't pitch a fucking fit over one more

late punch-in this week.

Another day to think about losing that extra ten pounds rubbing up against the front of

the desk as it hangs unattractively over a too tight belt, or trying to decide about buying a new

belt to avoid the stress of that kind of commitment.

Another day to dwell on 401K's, High yield CD's, IRA's, and how much longer it is until 5

o'clock p.m. and evening rush-hour... hmmmm, did anyone feed the cat this morning? Is there time to stop for a drink before going home to the old nag?

Another day married to the same person while wishing it had been someone else.

Another day wishing life had turned out differently, wishing things were better, but not knowing how to change it.

Always another day... and another... and another. Endless, they were, following one after the other through eternity as the hands of Time ticked ominously forward with perfect precision despite all of the doldrums, disappearances, murdered, or simply forgotten people and things that it passed.

Time. The eternal paradox of the Universe. From whence did come, and thenceforth, where did it go? It could be observed, recorded, even touched, but not one creature alive or dead had ever discovered the secrets of its existence or purpose. 

Time was unappeasable, yet it demanded nothing. It devoured all things, yet offered infinite opportunities at renewal. It gave birth, it brought death... It was Mother, it was Father, it was God, and it demanded utter respect, humility, and obedience for its wrath was both terrible and irreversible.

Time was absoluteness.

Time was perfection.

Time stopped for no tragedy or catastrophe, it paid attention to nothing, and it lived only for itself. Its only satisfaction was found in the completion of each daily, monthly, and yearly cycle... in the completion of Time itself and the preparation of beginning anew. It was the epitome of relentlessness and ruthlessness melded into the perfect harmony of never-ending persistence. Time waited for no man. It had its own agenda, its own schedule, its own book of preconceived goals.

Time was the World's oldest companion, its Lover, its closest friend, and most vile enemy, and after 600 years of limbo, Time was about to become the Battlefield of the Future. It was the plane upon which an age-old prophecy would come to pass, and the fight for supremacy would be waged. For the Age of Destiny had arrived in which The Fang of Pythagoras was destined to appear and already the lines of engagement were being drawn by the opposing factions without their even being aware. An inexorable force was drawing out the hidden clan's of 'Pure Bloods' and bringing them to the place where 'The One's' blood sang through the marquis lit streets at night calling them to his side amassing a powerful force that had been in the making for six centuries.

Time stalked the Future, and each day that passed brought Fate one step closer to the hour of

Judgement, the coming of The One, and the moment when Vengeance would rise from the ashes of the long dead and rip out the throats of the usurpers with one magnificent slashing stroke of his mighty fangs and bring balance to the World of Darkness once more.

Time was approaching... Time would not wait for choices or decisions to made... Time respected nothing but Time itself, and it would move ever forward without stopping until the hours of Time ceased to be and Time died. Until then, there was nothing in the Universe that could or would stand in its way... or was there?

There are strong men living in this World of Darkness. Strong men who are meant to be strong, and strong men who are trying to become stronger. One will try to change the course of the Future before the other has the chance to fulfill his Destiny... one of them will die, and one of them will inherit the power of the Fang and with it He will become the Master of the Dark World... and the Vampire Nation will once more have a King to rule over their massing numbers.

Only Time will tell which one of these men it will be.

Only Time knows the answer, and time hastens for no man either.

April 2004

The Weekend

Kenshin Himura'sGrandfather's Home

Quiet Country-Styled Home in upper New York State

Saturday Morning, 10:00 a.m.

Characters:

Kenshin Himura

Sanosuke Sargara

Kenshin's Grandfather–age unknown

"Ken-san!" The smooth tenor tones of Kenshin's Grandfather happily greeted the two

homicide detectives as they ambled lazily up the path leading to the immaculate flower, shrub,

and foliage garden that was his backyard. Several heavily leafed elm trees, tall conifers, and

spreading oaks had been carefully arranged and then nurtured to create a reasonably dense

canopy over a fairly large area of the yard which was located directly behind the house. The

resulting alcove remained quite dark during the daylight hours, and provided a cool shaded area

for relief from the heat during the long Summer months. The flower and shrub garden was

situated just in front of the canopy where the Sun's healthy rays could keep the earth warm and

provide the much needed photosythetic light the plants required in order to grow. It was a

beautiful yard, and it was Kenshin's Grandfather's pride and joy... he lived in his yard as he detested being cooped up inside all of the time. So, if one wanted to find the amiable old man, looking in his backyard first was a must.

"Good Morning, Grandfather." Kenshin loped the rest of the way up the path and entered the dimness of the alcove to greet the old man who had risen from his seat to welcome the young red-headed detective as he approached. "It is good to see you."

"As it is you." The old man replied as he pulled Kenshin into his arms and gave him a strong hug. "You have been away too long this time, Ken-san...much too long. I was beginning to think you had forgotten all about your old Grandfather."

"Never." Kenshin smiled broadly into the brilliantly sparkling blue eyes that were teasing him as he hugged the old man again. "How could I possibly ever forget about you, Grandfather? When you are so good at reminding me about NOT forgetting you... or anything else that has to do with our family, for that matter." Mischief danced in the young looking sapphire jewels as they appraised the beloved grandson and noting the smile on the handsome face, the old man could not resist one more jibe.

"Ya... You are right about that. Without me, you would have grown up stupid... or at least, more stupid."

"Grandfather!!" Kenshin squelched in mock indignation as Sano began to snicker mean spiritedly behind him. "How could you say that? About ME??" The old man just smiled and offered up a good-natured chuckle in response.

"He gottcha there, Bud... he definitely got you there." Sano laughed as he scratched at a fly that kept nibbling on his ear. "Gramps one... Kenshin zerooo."

"Sano... " Kenshin glared in amusement at his chuckling partner and then back at his widely

grinning Grandfather. "I thought you were my friend Sano, but here you are siding with this

cantankerous old man against me... I don't know about this. I may have to leave you here when I

go home."

"On no, Kenshin." His Grandfather let his blue eyes grow wide and fill with alarm as he pressed his hands together in a pleading gesture. "You wouldn't do THAT to a defenseless old man like me, would you?" At Sano's abrupt choking off of his laughter, Kenshin turned a wicked grin in his direction and winked.

"Gottcha partner. Kenshin one, Grandfather two... Sano ZEROOO!"

"Geez... that was mean you know? Just plain mean." Sano looked at the two Himura's with

a sense of mild irony at the sameness of their personalities and temperament. "Now whose

ganging up on whom? Hmmm?"

"Ahhh, you must forgive us, Mr. Sagara. It is the Himura way to torture the ones they care

about." At that remark Kenshin favored his smiling Grandfather with an indulgent look.

"Is THAT why you are always so mean to me, Grandfather?"

"Mean? Mean to you? Ken-san!" The old man all but spluttered with outrage before suddenly

thumping his grandson hard enough in the chest to send him reeling backwards onto his backside. "I have never been mean to you a day in your life, you stapling brat!" He fumed playfully. "Why, if it was not for me, you would have grown up like a wild animal on the streets the way your Father let you run wild all of the time... Mean to you? Humph!"

"I was only kidding, Grandfather..." Kenshin laughed as he stood up and dusted off his jeans.

"But I swear, your punches have not lost any of their force since I was six... how did you do that?"

"Vitamins.. Lots and lots of vitamins, Ken-san." The old man flipped his waist length snow white hair over his shoulder and motioned the two men to follow him into the house. "You should try them, my boy... you could use some extra strength and body mass. I think you are skinnier than the last time I saw you."

"Pssst..." Wil leaned into Kenshin's ear as they filed through the glass door. "Does this mean he is going to feed us now?"

"Sano! God, do you ever think about anything besides food?"

"Yeah, I do... sometimes."

"Really? Like what?"

"Errrr... ahhh... Sex... I think about sex too."

"Great. I'm sure Grandfather wants to hear about that..."

"Maybe I do, Ken-san. I may be old, but I am not dead, you know." Both men's heads snapped up as they heard the old man's voice filter over to them from at least 20 feet away where he had disappeared into the kitchen. "Believe it or not, I was once young like you... and I had quite a way with the Ladies... hehehehe.!"

"He heard us???" Sano was flabbergasted. So was Kenshin. He could not remember his

Grandfather having THAT good of hearing before.

"Must be one hellova hearing-aide..."

"No hearing-aide, Ken-san... just vitamins, like I told you. Lots and lots of vitamins."

"Shit!" Sano exclaimed with wide eyes. "I gotta get some of those." Kenshin's eyes narrowed... he was not so easily convinced as his partner. Something was different about his Grandfather today, he just could not quite put his finger on it. He seemed... stronger... livelier... younger?

"Grandfather?" Kenshin walked into the kitchen where the old man was quickly preparing some roast beef sandwiches for them to eat, but stopped short when he caught sight of something he had never witnessed before. His grandfather had always had the liquid grace of a dancer or a martial artist when he moved or walked. That had been an integral part of him ever since Kenshin could remember, but what was happening now was something he had never seen.

Hands that had been 'arthritic' for nearly 20 years were holding a razor sharp carving blade and

using it with the precision of long years of expertise without any show of pain or stiffness. It was as if he wore the hands of a practiced chef or... swordsman? But that was not the only surprise that greeted him. The thing that caught Kenshin's eye and made him hold his breath in shock and disbelief was the speed at which the hands were moving.

They were blurs of the blade and fingers before his stunned amethyst eyes as they flew from roast to plate slicing piece after piece of near paper-thin meat in preparation for the sandwiches that were to be made. It was like watching a movie put on fast forward except that these movements were smooth, graceful, and fluid as a mountain stream rolling over flat stones. Every movement was perfectly calculated, performed, and then repeated without so much as a pause for adjustment. It was obvious that the man knew exactly what his hands were doing, how they were doing it, and he was in complete control of every aspect. The perfect orchestration conducted by a learned Master... a work of art, and it was in that moment that Kenshin felt the 'essence' of the mood within the room change and he felt 'something' become aware of him. ' He knows... he knows I saw... he knows... but, what did I see, what does he think I know? What...'

The curtain between the worlds lifted as Time ticked forward and pushed Fate into motion.

As the last piece of meat was laid on the plate, the old man carefully lay the blade on the counter top, wiped his hands on a nearby towel, and then nonchalantly turned to face his gapping, stunned grandson.

"You wish to say something, Ken-san?" The question was spoken in a voice that was completely unfamiliar to Kenshin. It was not the usual happy musical tenor that he had come to associate with his grandfather, instead it was calm, rich, and warm like molten gold flowing over his skin making him stare into the face of a man he had known his entire life who was suddenly becoming a stranger. The face had changed as well. No longer the ever present smile or dancing blue eyes, rather each familiar feature had been slightly shifted into something more sophisticated, more beautiful...almost... ethereal, and he was so... young. The years of his advanced age had miraculously melted away in the space of a breath, and though his hair remained as white as it had been before, the rest of his physical appearance now seemed to be no older than Kenshin himself.

"Wha...?" His mind was reeling with a thousand-thousand questions, but he could not seem to

capture even one of them as he stared at the being before him. "Who... How... I am... so confused... Who a-are you?" Kenshin backed up a step and bumped directly into a dumb-struck gapping Sano who was totally frozen with shock at what he had just witnessed.

"Who am I?" The white-haired man shrugged as he turned back around and began to prepare the sandwiches. "I am who I have always been... Your Grandfather."

"B-b-but you... your... I..."

"You are stuttering, Ken-san. It really does not become one of your stature and station. You really should try to get control of yourself if you plan on continuing this conversation." The voice sounded bland, almost bored as it wafted over the man's shoulder. "There is much to for us to discuss, and the time has come for you to know many things about our family... and about yourself. This cannot be accomplished if you continue to waver as you are now."

"Y-You want me t-to just accept what h-happened... just l-like that?" Kenshin was incredulous. How could he possibly be expected to accept something like this on face value and simply move on as if it were something that happened to him everyday?

"Yes... I do." Turning around to face the shocked detectives, the white-haired man held a plate stacked high with sandwiches, and motioning for the two men to follow, he walked back outside into the alcove where he placed the plate on a patio table. "Seat yourselves," He said flatly. "I will retrieve the beverages."

"He's kidding, right?" Sano looked at Kenshin with huge rounded eyes filled with bewilderment.

"I... I don't think so." _'What the fuck is going on? Is this the same grandfather I grew up_

_knowing all my life? Has he been hiding this 'part' of himself all this time? How could he do that? Did my father know?' _ Then Kenshin's eyes grew wide with distress. _'Mother?! Did Mother know?? What the fuck is happening here?'_

"I told you to calm yourself, Ken-san." The smooth golden voice sounded from the direction of the glass doors and Kenshin whirled around to find the white-haired man stepping out with three bottles of beer in his hands. "Wondering what your parents knew or did not know will only create more upset and stress in your mind, and they are questions that can and will be answered as we speak... do you understand?"

"I... you heard my thoughts??"

"Yes... You are of my blood-line. I have always been able to hear your thoughts, and your

Father's as well. It is a technique that you yourself possess; although, you will have to learn how to use it as all of the power within you has been suppressed by your human blood."

"My... h-human blood?" Uncertain and disbelieving violet eyes locked gazes with the now aloof appearing sophisticated sapphires belonging to the man he had known all his life as his grandfather, but now did not know who or what he was. "What do you mean, my human blood? What other kind of blood do I have?"

"My blood, of course... and your Grandmother's who was human, your Father's who was our

son... and your Mother's who was half-human like your Father."

"Half-hum... What the fuck are you talking about!?" A frustrated rage boiled in Kenshin's blood and he jumped to his feet and moved away from the table. "What do you mean my parents were 'half-human'? What does that mean? What does that make ME? What does that make _YOU_?" Whirling around, angry tears blurring his vision and he fixed his fury on the man responsible for all of his current feelings of turmoil and confusion and shouted, _"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU??! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!"_

The silence that followed was deafening in its enormity and as the two Himura's faced each other, the third man found himself an uncomfortable and unwilling witness to an event he wished he were not seeing. For years he had wondered what it would take to crack the seemingly impenetrable shield around his eccentric partners emotions, and now, quite by accident, on an innocent family visit to Kenshin's grandfather's home, he had found out. He wished to God he had not come. Seeing Kenshin like this was tearing his guts out and making him feel like a helpless little kid as he watched his best friend crumble into dust before his very eyes. _'Ahhh, Bud... I'm so sorry... I don't know what to do to help ya... I don't know what to do... this old man's gone off his rocker and he's taking you with him... God, I wanna help, but I don't know...'_

"I told you who I was Ken-san..." The white-haired man slowly rose to his feet and carefully

walked toward the seething confused red-head. "I am, indeed, your grandfather. That is, and has

always been the truth."

"Are you Human?" Kenshin asked with a gut-wrenching fear eating away at his vitals and the

bitter taste of denial gagging his throat. "Are _WE_ human?"

"_YOU_ are half-human, my dear boy... just as you have been from the day your sweet mother

brought you screaming into this world of light and dark... and I have loved you and watched over

you from the moment you drew your first breath... that I have."

"I don't understand..." The sob broke his voice and he dropped his head in despair as he struggled to make heads or tails of what was being told him. "What are _WE_? What am _I_?"

"You, dear boy, are the Great-Grandson of Maxmillion Corban, who was my Father."

"Who? I-I have never heard that name before." Anxious violet eyes filled with urgency and

questions bore into the softening sapphire pools of the man who reached out to grasp his shoulder in a surprisingly strong grip.

"No, you have not. It is not a name I have spoken in over... 600 years, Ken-san."

"600... What did you say?" Kenshin's face paled and he began to feel very dizzy and light headed as he tried to comprehend what he thought he had just heard, but was certain he could not have.

"600 years, Ken-san... I have not spoken the name of my Father for more than 600 years. Not

since the day he died trying to protect our people and our way of life in a War that should have

never happened."

"War?" A strange look of self-doubt coupled with understanding crossed his face and he pulled away from the white-haired man's grasp to wander a few feet away as he became lost in his own thoughts. "_War_..." He whispered again as his mind began to rifle through old memories and

carefully preserved facts that he retained in the mock filing cabinet of his brain. "Civil War...

protecting 'our' people and 'our' way of life... The King... they killed The King... War between the

Pure Bloods and The Made... The Prophecy of The One... The Prophecy... The King and The

Prophecy... The Royal Bloodline... Someone survived.... the bloodline... the prophecy... the one..." Suddenly he whirled around and stared in horror at the man who faced him with such stoic regalness and sophistication. _'Regal bearing...' _Kenshin's mind started to shiver with the dawning of a terrible understanding. What had the old man said just a few moments ago? _'...it does not become one of your stature and station... Oh My God!!! Noooooooooo......' _His eyes closed as the last piece of the strangest puzzle he had ever tried to put together suddenly drifted over and fell into place... but he wouldn't... no, he couldn't believe... not that... never that...

"You must accept it, Kin-Cade." The gaze softened even more as the tone of the younger man's turmoil shifted to a different concern and increased intensity. "It is your Destiny."

"Nooo... It can't be true... I'm not... I can't be... I..." He fell to his knees as his strength failed him and buried his face in his hands. "It cannot be..."

"But it is... My Mother foretold your coming 600 years ago as she stood dying in the middle of

the blood soaked battlefield. She died with the prophecy of your birth on her lips, Ken-san, and I

have been waiting for you to come of age all my life... First, I had to wait for you to be born... I had to wait for the signs that foretold your coming, and then, I had to make sure that I was close enough to you to protect you and keep you safe from hunting eyes and sniffing noses."

"What do you mean? Who else is looking for me??"

" The Made... their leader, a man who was once known as Gustav Uriel, has been waiting and searching for you just as long as I have been waiting to find you and protect you."

"Protect me? How do you protect me?" Kenshin was confused, angry, in denial, and suffering an emotion close to grief, but he could not yet put a name to it. "How do you know I am the one... How do you know?" His voice was filled with sorrow, questions, denial...betrayal?

"Because I have waited for you all my life... nearly 700 years have I waited, my boy...

waited and watched the signs of the times change with each passing century... waited for the day

when men could fly like ravens and pictures would speak..."

"What?" 

"Airplanes, Ken-san... Airplanes, movies and television... the time for the One has arrived...

it is upon us... the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I just did not know when you would come so I had to watch and wait. I did not know if you would be born to me, to my son, or to his son... your older brother..."

"I had a brother???" Kenshin looked up with shock filled violet eyes. "A-a brother??"

"Yes, Ken-san. You had a brother... long ago. His name was Hydieki. He died perhaps 250 years ago when we crossed the sea from the old country and come to this place."

"H-how did he die?"

"He was swept over board when our ship was caught in a storm, and as the crew struggled to save him, a large crate was swept over and crashed on top of him... when we were finally able to pull him back on board, we discovered his neck had been broken and he had died. The grief killed his Mother, God rest her poor soul, and your Father did not take another mate for many long years... that being your sweet mother. You are his only surviving child. The last child of my blood since both of your parents are now dead." A long sigh of sadness left the man as he turned from Kenshin and walked away a few steps. "That is how I know you are the one. That is why I had to do everything in my power to protect you after you were born and it fell to me later on in your teens to raise you. But I was sworn to protect you long before that."

"I still do not understand how you have protected me. I am no different from anyone else."

"Exactly, it was I who suppressed your natural abilities. That is _WHY_ you appear to be exactly like everyone else."

"You..?." Incredulity colored his hoarse voice as he gazed in outrage at the other man. "How can you do that? Why did you do that?"

"Why? So you would be that much harder to find." The voice became harsh and annoyed as the older man narrowed his angry gaze at the stubborn red-head. "How? Why do you suppose I was always making you drink tea and eat my herb salad when you were younger,?"

Now Kenshin was getting angry as well. "Then explain why I don't turn into a fucking torch when I walk out into the sunlight, old man? How about that? Or is that just some old Vampire tale that got made up in the movies?"

"It is your human blood that allows you to walk around in the sunlight and remain unharmed, you fucking Idiot." The Vampire snarled back just before moving back toward the belligerent detective. "Must I explain everything to you as if you were a babe in swaddling? Where is your intelligence?"

"I guess I left it at home this morning," Kenshin growled in fury as he forced himself back to his feet. "I was not aware my whole life was about to disintegrate into a steaming pile of dogshit today so I didn't think I was going to need my thinking-cap."

"Your sarcasm and disrespect are ill-placed, young one. Do not pushed me too far."

"Really? Should I be afraid? Grandfather??" The last was spoken with such a sneer of

malevolence that what happened next definitely proved who was the stronger, and who was in

charge and deserving of the respect.

The low feral growl had barely registered in Kenshin's brain, and his reflex warning systems did not even get the chance to click into action before he was suddenly seized from behind by the most powerful grip he had ever felt, and was then summarily thrown to the ground like so much light weight garbage. The breath left his lungs with one big 'whoosh' and he was not able to even squeak in surprised fear before the white-haired Demon pounced on his chest and pinned him in the soft dirt with its incredible strength. Eyes going red as bleeding coals of melting fire burned furiously into his terrified face, and as its lips pealed back in a wolfish snarl, and despite the dimness of the light in the alcove, two canine fangs nearly an inch and a half in length appeared and glinted a brilliant white. '_Dear God... He's a... He's... Oh God....'_

"A Vampire, you child... why can't you just say the words? He's A Vampire!"

"I coughcough... I... coughcoughcough... You're a cough... I... cough can't..."

"Fucking coward!" The Vampire screamed as it leaned down into the terrified man's face. "My

blood flows in your viens... I am part of _YOU!_ WE are part of EACH OTHER!! You cannot escape it... _YOU. ARE. VAMPIRE. KIN-CADE!_"

"NOOOOOO!" Suddenly Kenshin lunged upward throwing the white-haired Vampire off his chest as if he were weightless. "_I. WILL. NOT. ACCEPT. THAT! I WILL NOT_!" And he leapt into the air covering nearly 15 feet in a single bound landing on top of the other Vampire crushing him to the ground beneath his weight. Then, in a frenzy of rage, he began to pummel him in the face and the chest with his clenched fists, at the same time screaming over and over, "I AM NOT A VAMPIRE! I AM NOT A VAMPIRE! I AM NOT A VAMPIRE!" Then suddenly, as instinct and primitive emotion overcame him, he was burying his face in the other man's neck... and tasted blood.

As his mind filled with a million stars and flashing images, Kenshin began to struggle with the

ferocity of his rage. He could feel is as if it were an enormous ball of boiling fury burning in the pit

of his stomach threatening to explode. He could see it in his minds eye and it looked like the core of a volcano preparing to blow-up and spray its molten contents out across the innocents of the

surrounding world, and realizing this, he became afraid... _'I'm going insane...' _ He thought in

terror_. 'I'm out of control... what have I become? What am I doing? God? Helpme....' _and then he went spinning round and round down into a deep hollow world where the darkness had a name, and the light was an enemy to be avoided. _'I am lost...' _His soul cried out in agony and fear. _'Where am I? I can't see anymore, have I gone blind? What is this place...? Grandfather??? I am alone... where is everyone... I don't want to be alone in the dark... where is the light? Why can't I find the light? God... are you there? God? GOD?? HELP ME.... HHEEELLLPP MMEEEEE!!!'_

"Help yourself, Ken-san..." The calm, quiet tenderness of the smooth tenor voice in his ear

prompted him to brave the logical world and open his eyes. There he met the incredibly beautiful

face of a Vampire with bottomless sapphire diamonds for eyes, and the gentlest smile he had ever

seen.

"Grandfather...?" 'Is that my voice? It sounds different...'

"Yes, dear boy... how do you feel?"

"I... I'm not sure." 'Like I've been hit by a bus..'.

"Can you stand?"

"Yes, I think so..." And as he tried to climb to his feet, he found his grandfather's support under one arm, and his long time friend's, Sanosuke Sagara, under the other. "Sano?"

"Yeah... It's me, Ole' buddy. Come on... up you go." As Kenshin struggled to his feet, he winced and automatically put a hand to his throbbing head.

"What happened?"

"What do you remember, Ken-san?"

"Huh?" Confusion filled his lavender eyes as he looked from his grandfather's face to his friends and back again. "What are you talking about? What happened?"

"Come Ken-san... sit down." They led Kenshin back to the table and helped him set in one of the chairs, and then his grandfather knelt in front of him. "I want you to think back and tell me what the last thing is you remember."

"But..."

"Just do this... don't argue for once in your life, just do it."

"Hmmmm...." Kenshin eyed the white-haired man for a moment and then closed his eyes and

began to think. What HAD they been doing? What were they talking about? 'What....?' And then

he heard a beautiful rich golden sounding voice echoing inside of his head, and as it spoke, the

vision of two shimmering pools of deepest blue filled his mind.

'Taste the blood in your mouth, dear boy... taste it... and remember everything...'

Characters:

Jack Harden: Scum-bag Pimp

Pure Blood Vampire Female

Made Vampire Male

Her legs were wrapped around his neck and he was slamming his full-blooded erection into her

small opening with enough force to rock the car on its framework. The moans and whimpers

coming from her slender throat inflamed his already aroused senses and he bent down over her

shoving his tongue wetly into her panting mouth.

"Oh baby... oh God... it feels good... good so good..."

"The best you've have, Sugar... the best ever." It was the finest piece he'd had... the smoothest... the silkiest... the tightest, and Jack thought he was in heaven, but anything that good couldn't be meant to last, or could it? He had been thinking that maybe this girl was the one he had been looking for, the one he had been waiting for, the one that would make the difference in his business... in his life. But then everything went wrong... suddenly not only were her legs wrapped around his neck but so were her arms and she was pulling him deeply into her for another kiss, only this kiss was unlike any of the others they had shared. This time it

was her tongue that snaked deeply into his mouth nearly suffocating him by how far she could reach, and he pulled back gagging.

"Hey, Bitch... don't do that, man... you're choking me when you do that.."

"Ohhhh, poor baby." She crooned and ground her pussy up against his shuddering hips sucking the full length of his enormous dick inside of her. "You can dish it out but you can't take it? Is that it, Baby?"

"Shut-up!" He growled as he tried to pry her hands from around his neck, but found that they

would not budge. "Leggo..."

"Uh-uh... I like it like this..." And she pushed up into him again and again making him fuck her

the way she wanted even though he wasn't getting off that way, and because of that, he started to get pissed at her. He didn't like bitches who tried to take control.

"Look Bitch, I told you if you worked out, I could get you a real good gig working for me... you can make some good green as one of my girls, but you gotta put out for ME... get it? And right now... you aren't doing that too well..." _'It's always too good to be true... shit!'_

"Ohhh phooey..." She pouted prettily and pulled the long blonde hair on the back of his neck

making him wince. "You're being a poor sport, Jack. I just wanted to have a little fun... that's all... can't I have a little fun?"

"Not when you work for me, Babe. You do for ME when you work for me, or you don't get to be Jack's favorite... get it?" _'The sooner you wise up, Baby-doll... the sooner things will work out between us, and then everything will be all better... I want it to be a lot better._'

"But I don't work for you yet... Jack." Her eyes suddenly took on a hard glittering look that

made him take a closer look at her, and the look he saw in her eyes sent a sliver of apprehension

through his gut.

"Jack treats his girls real good... if they treat him right... but you gotta put out for Jack..." _'Why can't you get that through your pretty head, Baby? Why are you busting my balls like this? Why can't you play my game my way? Come on, Baby... play the game...'_

"I don't like that idea, Jack. I want you to put out for ME... get it."

"Hey, Bitch... it don't work like that..." His green eyes narrowed and he started to gather his strength together for something messy. If she wouldn't play the game, he'd have to '_teach_' her a lesson and then maybe she would be more agreeable.

"Well, then our business is over... Baby." And before he could say another word or make a single move, she had grabbed him and expertly snapped his neck between the fifth and sixth vertebra thus immobilizing him, but leaving him very much alive. Flipping their positions in the back seat so he was on his back beneath her, she gifted him with one of her most beautiful and alluring smiles as she reached down and tenderly smoothed the baby soft blond hair out of his terrified eyes. "Oh, poor Jack... It looks like he had something to eat that didn't agree with him..." She giggled as she dipped her long slender fingers inside of her slick sex and then sensuously wiped the tangy juices across his trembling lips. "Tastes good, Baby... no?" Another girlish giggle escaped her as she leaned down to him and parted his cum covered lips with hers and kissed him deeply... passionately... hungrily.

When she pulled back from the kissed, poor Jack began to whimper in fear and tears filled his big green eyes as he looked at the incredibly beautiful horror setting straddle his paralyzed body.

Glowing red eyes and milky white fangs had replaced the perfect porcelain beauty he had picked up off the street a couple of hours before, and now, as he recalled all of the rumors of something

stalking the streets and taking out the Pimps by ripping out their throats, he knew that he was next... he was the next scum-bag on the blood-sucker's list.... Jesus...

The stiletto sharp fangs pierced his flesh as easily as some needle slides though a piece of cotton, and in only a few short moments, Jack Harden became another Pimp statistic.

She climbed out of the back seat of the Blood red Trans-am and absently straightened her clothes. A long immaculate fingernail began to pick at one of her teeth as if she had something lodged between it and another, and then she was sauntering off into the darkness the lilting tune of a very old song following her as she went. She loved to sing.

As she walked through the deserted alley, a strange scent invaded her sensitive nostrils and she immediately froze in her tracks her sharp nocturnal gaze sweeping through the shadows looking for the source of the scent. Ears trained to hear the slightest shift in the whisper of the breeze strained to catch even the smallest of sounds, but heard nothing out of the ordinary; however, all of the warning bells inside of her head were screaming for her to be on her guard so, keeping to the darker shadows, the female silently began to move up through the narrow alley.

She had not gone more than fifteen feet when a sharp gust of displaced air ruffled her hair from behind. Whirling around with nails raised in claw attack and teeth bared, she crouched down and hissed menacingly at the shadow of the individual who had obviously been stalking her through the alley, but now stood a mere five or six feet away.

"What do you want?" She growled in a deep malevolent voice as she shifted her feet apart for better balance. "You've been following me... who are you?"

"Your worst nightmare, pretty angel." The voice was low, rich with just the hint of an accent much like her own and her eyes narrowed in suspicion even as the beating of her heart sped up with the rush of adrenaline that was being pumped into her system by her defense mechanisms.

"You are an 'Ancient'... aren't you?"

"Oh my... very good, little one. You are very smart for one so young."

"I am not so young that I don't know the sound of the old tongue... I speak it too." She watched his head cock to one side as he was considering her words, and then slowly he spread his feet revealing that he was wearing a long trench coat that effectively masked the size and strength of his body as he crouched preparing for battle.

"Were you there that day... Little One? Were you there that day the Kingdom died?"

"I was...." A shiver of apprehension slid over her flesh as she tightened her muscles in

preparation... _'Remember what you have been taught... it can save you if ever you face one of_

_them... remember, they have a dead heart... tear out the heart or break their neck and they die... drive a piece of wood or a blade of silver through their heart or head and they die... always remember... remember...' _

"Then you know..." His voice smoothly shifted into the menacing growl of a wild animal as if

filled with hatred and the blood lust of someone who had killed many.

"Know what?" _'It is coming... prepare... prepare...'_

"That our kind are stronger than your's... we are the chosen of clan's... were are the perfect race, and it is _We _who shall survive... not _You_..."

"I don't think so... the Time of The One is upon us, and it is your kind that will perish beneath

His fangs when he rises... you'll all be dead... every last one of you filthy traitors... we'll stand under the Moon and toast His throne with your stinking blood."

"Never..." He hissed and suddenly sprang into the air with an unnatural speed and quickness that could have meant her end had she not been prepared for his coming, as it was, when he crashed into her smaller frame, they both went careening backwards into the darkness more than 20 feet before slamming into the ground and rolling over and over in a tangle or arms, legs, and black leather trench coat.

When they stopped, she was on top straddle his waist and she took the opportunity to smash her clenched fist into his face several times before he threw her off and sent her flying back into the brick wall behind them.

"Oooof!" Her back struck the old bricks hard enough to cause some of the mortar to crumble

loose and sift to the ground at her feet making a pile of white chalky dust around her black stiletto

heels. Sharp eyes caught the blurred movement as he rose to his feet and launched himself at her,

and she swiftly dodged to the left avoiding the charge giving herself a chance to slam a double fisted punch into the center region of his exposed back and shove him face first into the same wall.

"Gaaaahhhfff!" Shoving himself off the wall, he whirled and found her standing several feet

behind him with fists and fangs prepared. _'She's better than I bargained for...' _He thought angrily to himself as he wiped blood off his nose and lips and looked at it_. 'I'll have to be more careful if I want to take her out.' _ "You fight well, Little One... who was your teacher?"

"Master Seijuro... Do you know him?" The name of the great Warrior slid of her tongue like fine wine pours from a bottle, and she was more than satisfied to see the flash of worry that appeared briefly in his colorless eyes as he heard it. _'So, you DO know him.... Good. I hope that scares the shit out of you, asshole.' _

"I... have heard of him, once, long ago."

"You should have... he was an 'Ancient' as well, so you should know him. _WE_ all did back

then... he helped save us all."

"Of course, he was one of the few among the King's servants who escaped that day... but his name was not 'Seijuro' back then... was it?"

"No... do you know what his name was back then?" She subtly shifted her stance and moved

slightly to his left giving herself a little more space to fight in without him really noticing that she

had done it. _'He's not paying attention... good'._

"Gallion, I think it was... the old Horse retainer."

"Oh, you are good... very few know that. You must be someone important... if there is such a thing among your kind." The barb did its intended job as his eyes narrowed and a hissing curse slid from his throat in response to it. She smiled. The 'Made' were not known for their ability to control their emotions, and that was one of their biggest weaknesses. Learning to use it against them was a must if one wished to prowl outside the safe-zone at night.

"You disgusting whore... I'll eat your fucking heart for that..."

"You have to kill me first, you filthy bastard, and I have no intentions of letting you do that. I have plans tonight that I wish to keep... and you're getting in the way."

"Too bad, little girl... you just pissed of the wrong Vampire." And he rushed her position eyes glazed with bloodlust and canines bared for attack. Dipping down low, she took his charge against her shoulder and abruptly rose up flipping him over the top of her sending his body through the air where it landed with bone breaking force over an iron railing that framed an outside stairway. The 'cracking' sound that followed this fall was easily heard and was quickly followed by the pitiful groan of a painful if not deadly injury.

The girl slowly turned around and looked at the scene before her with a bland look on her face

and pitiless eyes. The male had struck the railing with so much force that he had torn it loose thus

impaling himself upon two of the closely spaced support bars which were protruding from his

bloodies body. One from the right side of his chest and the other from his abdomen. Neither were death wounds, but they were definitely causing him a great deal of pain at the moment. Casually she clasp her hands behind her back and walked over to his so she could look him in the eye, and as she did, she saw true fear and she smiled.

"You're dying, My Friend." She stated flatly as she looked him up and down maliciously.

"You'll bleed to dead in a matter of hours, and without fresh blood and someone to pull you free by morning... you'll be ashes."

"Fuck-ing whooorre..." He rasped as he coughed up blood and grabbed at the iron bars trying to pull himself off, but he had already lost too much blood and his strength was failing him. "Fuck

you, biitch... you are allll st-still going to d-die..."

"I don't think so." Nonchalantly she leaned over and spit in his ashen face and then stood back up and violently kicked him in the ribs tearing a blood curdling scream from his one un-punctured lung. "Looks to me like you're the only one dying here... and I'm the one that's still alive. In fact, you're the second fucking bastard I've wasted tonight, so I guess that makes me 2, and you guys zero... not real good odds wouldn't you agree?" _'Of course, Jack wasn't a Vamapire... but whose counting? An asshole is an asshole.'_

"What is y-your n-name, bitch?"

"What is it to you, you're already dead?" She looked at him puzzled.

"I-I want t-to know w-who killed m-me..."

"Mara... My name is Mara." Beautiful dark chocolate brown eyes winked at him as she flipped

amazingly long blonde hair over her shoulder baring her more than ample cleavage for his pain

filled eyes. "I was there that day you filthy animals killed the King and Queen... you slaughtered my Mother and my sisters... and my baby brother." Her gaze grew painful and suddenly tears shone brightly within their depths as she looked on the dying Vampire. "He was only two weeks old when Your Kind came and chopped off his head... a baby, and you just chopped off his head like he was a chicken."

"How d-did you get away? H-how did y-you sur-vive?" He rasped as he watched the beautiful

girl mourn her family long dead.

"Mother stuffed me under the refuse pile in the back yard and told me not to move until I couldn't hear the screaming anymore... so I didn't... and then, I followed the other people out of the city with Master Crede... He saved us."

"Crede? Bastard Prince... never found him... never found..."

"And you never will..." Her booted foot suddenly shot out and one of her 5 inch stiletto's roughly impaled his chest popping the dead heart inside with one heavy thrust of the silver tipped spike. Huge colorless eyes blew wide and round as he stared at her in disbelief for an instant, and then his mouth dropped open in shock and pain. But as she pulled the boot heel free, his body immediately disintegrated into so much ashes and dust and fluttered to the ground where the breeze began blowing it away.

"Master Crede was no bastard, you fucking coward... He saved us all... And when the time

comes, he will help usher in the beginning of the Holy War. He will save us all once again... I know he will." And then she looked up into the starry night sky and whispered to herself, "I hope you appreciate what I did for you tonight, Miss High and Mighty... I'm just as good as you are and I proved it just now. Not only did I take out one of your sewer-rat pimps, but I bagged myself a fucking 'Made' in the process... did you ever do that? Did you? Huh? All in the same night? Did you?" Pausing for a moment, Mara looked down at her hands and noticed there was just a little bit of blood on them. Her pretty brow furrow as she brought her hand up to her nose and took a whiff...

_'The pimp's blood...' _Shrugging she licked it off and started walking back into the density of the shadows. So, she had been a little bit messier than 'Miss Queen-Bitch', but she had still gotten the job done and then some. As she vanished into the shadows once more, Mara let a smile of satisfaction curve her beautiful full pink lips before she began singing again.

She loved to sing.

A/N: Next chapter done... hope you enjoyed. Please Review.

BTW... I love Vampires... My inspirations are Anne Rice (Who does not allow FanFiction's on her novel... but her style is timeless and beyond description... incredible.), Dean Koontz (Whose horror novels have fascinated me since high school... his descriptive mind is enviable... and to be respected), Stephen King (for obvious reasons), Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (Her Vampire, Werewolf, and other Horror novels are exceptional... if you haven't read her... YOU SHOULD. Some of my 'Inquisition' inspiration/ideas for 'Beloved of the White Flame' came from her and one of her books I read many years ago.) Peter Straub (Whose 'Ghost Story' helped scare the shit out of me and colored my imagination with 'Bad Kid', and whose many other novels that I've read have aided in warping my mind for further imaginary offerings... 'Floating Dragon' comes to mind... wicked stuff.) Someone else who has inspired me is a Werewolf author whom I discovered a couple of years ago... She writes Werewolves like Anne Rice writes Vampires... Her name is Donna Boyd. Her books, 'The Passion' and 'The Promise' are feasts for the eyes and the heart. If you love Werewolve's... READ THEM. Romance, sex, betrayal, tragedy... joy, pain... it's all in there. Anyway... these are just a few of the author's and books that have helped shape the style of my writing... and my quirky if not bazaar imagination. Thanks for reading.


	4. The Beginning

Glossary: Tovaras=Friend, Cel=The One, Desigur=Yes,

A/N and Clarification of Possible Scene misconception: My Images of the Vampire population have been heavily inspired by a great author, Anne Rice. I am a life long fan (Though the 'Queen of The Damned' Movie was a complete insult to the book), and I have always loved how she made her Vampires into such sensual and emotional creatures. There was always a bit of a hint of 'gayness' in her books which simply went along with The Master and his Children and the bond of The Blood between them and The Love it represented. It was a unique concept. I myself wanted to bring out the concept that it is the blood itself that inspires the bond... that it inspires the pleasure of the joining between one Pure Blood to another, seeing as how they cannot harm one another with their saliva... it is a mixing of souls and hearts. For family members it is a sharing of knowledge and a certain kind of pleasure... perhaps incestuous if you choose to look at it that way, but it is not meant in that sense. It is merely that The Blood is the very core of life and emotion between these beings. It is used to bring families closer together, to enhance existing or latent powers, but is not something that is done very often. Only on certain rare or emergent cases... for lovers and mates... it is obviously much more. As Kenshin would be new to the whole matter of blood and the emotions it invoked, and having never even be taught about such things... he gets a little carried away. The blood can be very... intoxicating. If the up coming scene grosses anyone out... I offer my deepest apologies. Gomen nasi.

Chapter Four

The Beginning

Kenshin's Grandfather's Home

April 2004, The Weekend

Sunday Night

Characters:

Kenshin Himura

Kenshin's Grandfather

Sansokue Sagara

Nadia Corban

The body on the bed was seized by yet another series of chills and shivers as it writhed and moaned tossing beneath the blankets arms and legs fighting against some unseen pain or adversary that was unknown to the dark-haired male who sat vigil at the bedside. Sweat and tears covered the face of the other male who lay thrashing within the mummy like confines of the bedsheets, and long strands of his brilliant red hair lay plastered upon his cheeks and forehead as the wetness turned them into tangled ropes of so much red seaweed clinging to his pale face. It was obvious he was trapped within the throws of a horrible dream from which he could not wake himself, but then again, neither could anyone else, for both Sanosuke and Kenshin's Grandfather had tried without success, and so the young detective continued to thrash, cry, and suffer alone through whatever pains and agonies gripped him. Just as he had for nearly two full days.

"Ever since you jumped that old geezer, Bud... What the hell were you thinking when you did that? HOW did you do that, and what in God's name did I see anyway?" Sano rubbed his hand over tired eyes that burned with fatigue and then let himself wander back over the disturbing memories from the morning before.

'You are Vampire, Ken-san! You cannot escape it...' Sano had thought he was going insane when he watched the old man's eyes turn into bloody burning coals and the incredibly long canines growing out of his mouth, but before that could hardly register, Kenshin was throwing that same old man half way across the shaded patio like he was a sack of potatoes. Fifteen feet? Twenty maybe, Sano could not be quite sure unless he went out and actually measured the distance, but he knew it was a substantial amount of area that Kenshin had tossed the other male, and then, to make matters worse, Sano had watched his best friend in the world not to mention the most pessimistic guy he had ever known, stand up and 'jump' that same distance pinning the older male to the ground. That was when everything really went wrong.

Kenshin had gone completely nuts. He had started punching the old man whom he had called Grandfather his whole life in a way that left no doubts he wanted to beat the brains out of his head and smear them all over the pale gray cement patio. And he had started to scream... scream like a crazy man in a high desperate voice that had tore at Sano's guts finally forcing him out of his frozen shock and making him move. 'I am not a Vampire! I am not a Vampire! I am not a Vampire!' But before Sano could reach the hysterical man, he had done something that, even now, the tall dark-eyed detective could not entirely accept.

He had reared back, bared his teeth like a wild animal, and then lunged into his grandfather's exposed throat... and bit him, hard. Hard enough to draw blood, and when Sano pulled him off of the old man, the stuff was dripping off his chin like honey and Kenshin was practically unconscious. Things had only gotten stranger from there. As He and Kenshin's grandfather helped the stumbling red-head to his feet, he seemed in a daze not knowing hardly where he was or what had happened. They had set him down in one of the chairs and as Sano wiped off his face, Kenshin's grandfather began asking him what he remembered.

He was confused, so the old man asked him so just try and remember what they had been doing... the two Himura's had looked at each other for a several pregnant seconds and then Kenshin had literally passed out cold.

Sano had carried him into the house and laid him on the bed in the spare room Kenshin's Grandfather kept, and then the two of them began to try and wake him up. For nearly an hour they tried until finally the older male waved Sano aside and sat down next to Kenshin on the bed. Sano watched as he reached out and took the younger mans hand in his, and then bent his head and closed his eyes.

The room had remained quiet for a long time as Kenshin's grandfather concentrated on trying to reach him, and finally he lifted his head and sat looking blankly at the wall for several moments. "The choice is now his to make... I can do nothing else for him." He had said in a tired sad voice as he turned and looked at a very confused Sano. "You have been his tovaras and companion through many trials and hard times, Sanosuke. He will need you now, more than he ever has before."

"I-I don't understand," He had stammered into the face of a man he had believed to be in his last years of life, but now looked no older than Kenshin himself. "What the hell is going on? What are you?" The other man had smiled then, a very sad and self depreciating smile as he looked down at the hand that cradled Kenshin's within its tender clasp.

"I am... Vampire, Sanosuke. I am that which has walked this earth for more than 700 years, and Ken-san is my grandson by blood. He is also 'Cel'."

"Cel?"

"'The One'. Ken-san is the chosen one that my people have been waiting for for 6 centuries." Gentle hands had carefully brushed the heavy soft red hair out of the younger man's face and then softly stroked both of his flawless cheeks. "He is 'The Fang of Pythagoras", our Savior."

"Oh man... this is all a bunch of bullshit. Are you trying to tell me that Kenshin is some Vampire God or something that is supposed to rise from the dead and save the rest of the Vampires? From what? All you guys are dead anyway."

"No, that is not true, my tovaras. WE are not dead, only the 'Made' occupy the shells of a lifeless body that requires the blood of the living to survive. The body of 'A Pure Blood' lives and breaths just like yours, and we have a soul and a spirit just like you... though we tend to live a bit... ahh, longer than humans." Sparking blue eyes had twinkled unashamedly at the last part of the statement, and Sano found himself smiling back. "Both races are bound by many of the same rules, such as sunlight being an enemy to avoid, as well as silver and any object than may penetrate our hearts. But, where only silver and wood will destroy a Made, any object through our living heart will kill us... just as it would you... human."

"So... you aren't invincible?"

"Of course not... we are just another species of life trying to find a place to call our own so that we may coexist peacefully along side the other species."

"And the 'Made'?"

"They would kill us all and claim the human population as their exclusive feeding grounds... you would all eventually become either 'Made's' yourselves, or just food for the 'Gods'."

"That's unreal... How do you expect me to believe all that crap?"

"I don't... but consider what you have seen here today and then tell me what you believe."

"I still don't get it... what is Kenshin supposed to do if he is this 'One' you keep talking about?"

"It is his fate, Sanosuke... It is Ken-san's fate to unite the Pure Blood Clan's and then lead us into Civil War."

"WAR?? Are you shittin' me? Civil war? With who?"

"The Made... And their Leader, a man I once knew as Gustav Uriel... but the world knows him by another name now."

"The... the world? You mean this guy is out in the general population? A Vampire?"

"But of course." A nasty laugh had followed that reply as the white-haired man had once more looked into Sano's confused face. "We do not always hide and lurk about in the shadows with black capes and bad make-up."

"Ok... quit with the crap. Who is this guy? If the 'whole' world knows him, who is he?"

"The richest man in Europe and Aisa combined, Sanosuke... One of the biggest leaders of organized crime and drug smuggling the world has ever seen... The Black Diamond himself..."

"Bullshit! Your talking about..."

"Hajime Saitou, the owner and president of 'Black Diamond Enterprises'."

"But... but he's the largest manufacturer of surgical medical equipment in the Northern Hemisphere... do you have any idea 'who' you are talking about? This guy is worth billions and that is just from the franchise rights."

"I know that, tovaras... what better way to get yourself in contact with the major population points of the world than to run a business everyone needs, as well as be the top cocaine and heroin provider on the European front?"

"Those are only rumors, nothing has ever been proved. No one can even get close enough to this guy to get a decent picture. He's got so many damned body guards you'd be lucky if you got a whiff of his cars exhaust before one of them snapped your neck."

"They protect him very closely... He is very important to them and they will do anything to keep him safe."

"Anything?"

"Desigur... anything."

"Great... just great." The white-haired man had stood up and made to leave only to stop at the doorway and look back.

"Gustav Urial led the revolt that destroyed my home city, and over 8,000 people died that night beneath the swords of the Made who were sworn to his command. But it was Gustav himself who mounted the Palace steps shouting out his challenge and insults before my Father and Lady Mother... and it was his sword whose stroke severed my father's head from his body." Sano's brown eyes had widened in horror as he was forced to envision the horror of a son watching his father being murdered in such a bloody manner. "And it was he who stole the riches from the Palace and the burial vaults of the ancient Vampire Kings long past to begin the life of luxury and business that he now enjoys. He is the one the Made turn to as their Leader... He is 'their' Savior... Their God... It is He who they believe will win victory over 'Cel'... and if he does... the world shall weep in despair for all eternity, for no blood shall ever be spared the fangs of the Made. No blood will be sacred or respected... and life as it is now will cease to be... forever."

He had left at that point, softly closing the door behind him and leaving Sano to wonder and stew over what he could not accept as truth, but could not deny as fact. After all, he had seen the old man transform into a Vampire... and he had seen what had happened to Kenshin because of it... so, if it were all true?

"Shit..." He muttered and rubbed his face in exhausted frustration. "Come on and wake up, Bud... we really gotta talk." Looking at the writhing moaning form of his best friend as he shuddered beneath the blankets. "What's going on inside of your head anyway?"

Blood.... he could see it... smell it... feel it on his skin... taste it in his mouth... it was everywhere he looked. It dripped from the stones and ran in rivulets through the dry earth forming crimson puddles wherever the ground dipped or scooped into a depression. It was splattered upon the granite steps of the majestic pale pink palace that rose towering into the dark sky, and floated in the icy cold air like a red mist hovering above the ancient battlefield.

'I'm here...' He thought in awe struck horror as his wide violet eyes looked around at the carnage that had begun to materialize before him. 'I'm really here... oh dear God... it's not possible... it's not pos...' A great moaning cry rose up behind him and he whirled around in terror only to find himself confronted by one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

Her hair was long, nearly to the ground and blowing like a white blizzard about her slender form as she rose from the ground and stood before him. Great green eyes, sparkling like emerald crystals in the clear moonlight, looked out at him from a delicate, elfin face as her bow shaped lips formed a sad smile. Her red and black velvet and satin gown, though stained with her own blood, remained beautiful and crisp as it had been the night she had died... and the wound. Dear God, the wound in her throat... the flesh lay open in a gash of ragged tissues that bared the muscle, tendons, and various blood vessels that occupied that part of her anatomy. It looked as if a great claw had just reached out and ripped her to shreds... Kenshin shuddered and swallowed hard as he realized that was exactly what had happened.

The clawed fingernails of a 'Made' had slashed across her pale creamy flesh and tore the life from her by ripping out the two main vessels in her throat, the jugular and the carotid, in one fatal stroke of their razor sharp talons, and it had taken her only moments to bleed to death. Suddenly tears were clouding his vision as he considered who this woman had to be and his ultimate connection to her. 'This is my great-grandmother.' He thought. 'And I never had the chance to know her... it's not right... it's just not right... damn them.... damn them all.'

"Do you know who I am,?" The woman asked as she rose to her full height which was perhaps an inch taller than Kenshin.

"I... I am not completely certain." He replied not sure if he were dreaming or if this was a vision, but one way or the other he was not certain what to say to one who had been dead for so long.

"I am Nadia," Her voice was soft and cultured as it drifted to him on the cold night breeze. "I am your Great-Grandmother, and I have been waiting for you... for so long... so long." Not realizing he had even been looking at the ground Kenshin's head snapped up to look at her wistful face, and found those amazing green eyes gazing lovingly upon his visage. "It has been many years since the night I foretold the World of your coming, Almighty Fang, and I have been waiting for you to find your way back to me." She was speaking in the old tongue and Kenshin was suddenly very grateful to his grandfather for making him learn the all but dead language because he had understood her perfectly.

"Y-you have?" Kenshin stumbled over his words in astonishment both from the fact that she was speaking to him, and because she seemed to know exactly who he was.

"Desigur, Great One. My soul has watched the world as it has evolved, and I have over seen the making of your great army as the clans have thrived and multiplied in hiding these many hundreds of years... and I have waited for The Time of Vengeance to draw near... the time of our Justice against the 'Made'... against the spilling of so much innocent blood as they did in this place on that night so long ago."

"Is that what this is all about, Grand-Mother? Vengeance... revenge for the revolution?" Kenshin's voice filled with disdain as the bitter taste of gall rose in the back of his throat at the thought of a war based on petty revenge. "I will not be the one to lead our people into a Civil War simply for revenge against the 'Made'... I am not that kind of a man... I could not ask so many to give their lives for something so base and primitive. Revenge is not a just cause to die for." As he looked up into her extraordinary face, Kenshin gasped in wonder as he watched the most glorious smile he had ever envisioned grace her ethereal face. "What?" He asked in confusion as she moved toward him and rested her slender graceful hands on his shoulders. "I don't understand... why-why are you smiling?"

"Because, my beautiful child... YOU truly are The One. " If anything, Kenshin looked even more confused by her words and his face reflected as much. "You have a strong sense of Justice and Loyalty as well as a strong and pure heart. You will make an excellent Leader for our people. The Fates have chosen well... and I am proud of you... Ken-san."

"You know... my name?" He was confounded, but she only smiled and nodded.

"Desigur, I know many things about you, Ken-san...." Her enormous green eyes looked deeply into his bewildered violet, and when she spoke again, her voice was soft... gentle... but there was an edge beneath it that broke no denials from him. "You are Vampire, Ken-san. You can no longer deny this part of your soul... and you cannot deny the blood that runs through your veins." He could feel her eyes piercing into him and a part of his soul cried out in recognition as an unknown, yet familiar warmth began to spread through his vitals. "It is my blood... Your Grand-Father's blood, and... my Son's blood."

"The-the Prince.... the one who survived? The last surviving member of the Royal family... is that whom you mean?"

"Desigur... You know who he is, yet you deny what he is even though he had cradled your soul in his heart and hands from the day your were born."

"Grandfather..." Kenshin whispered in an agonized voice as the tears that had been swimming in his eyes finally spilled over his lashes and ran down his cheeks. "He... he said... I... but I couldn't... I..."

"Shhhhh," She wrapped her arms around him and held him to her undamaged side, gently stroking his thick red hair with her pale hands. "He knows you love him, and he knows that you were afraid and confused... Crede was always the most loving and sensitive of my sons... and it is he who I have missed the most. He understands what is in your heart, Beloved, and he will not hold your emotions against you."

"Prince Crede..." The name slipped out from between his lips as he burrowed against her throat seeking the comfort of her quiet strength like a child nuzzling against its Mother. "It is true then... all of it... every bloody gory detail... it all really happened, didn't it?"

"Desigur, My Love. It was the worst slaughter any of us could remember. Nothing like it before had ever happened... nothing. We had always been a peaceful people, or so we tried to be."

"Why then? Why did they do it?"

"Arrogance... pride... greed. There are many reasons for one species to seek the annihilation of another, including jealousy and envy... Gustav Uriel had been one of my husband's greatest warriors and most trusted battle advisor's, but Gustav believed that he and his kind were better, stronger than the 'Pure Bloods' and he obtained enough followers behind his cause to launch a surprise attack upon Ameck and all her inhabitants."

"The entire city?" Kenshin's voice was aghast as his mind withdrew from the horror of the slaughter of so many unarmed people. "Everyone?"

"Desigur, over 8,000 people died beneath the blades, fangs, and claws of Uriel's army that night... the old, the young... women, children, babies... none were spared his bloodlust. Only 44 people survived the massacre including my son, and it is because of him and a long trusted friend that our people did not die out completely. Do you know how they survived, Ken-san?"

"The Clan's." She nodded and Kenshin felt her chin against his forehead. The story of the Clan's had always fascinated him the way they had split up into groups of two to four and dispersed across the face of the known world. "That is how they survived all this time... spreading out into so many different countries... hiding in so many different places."

"That is partly true, but you must understand they have not been hiding."

"What do you mean?" He asked, feeling confused again. "If not hiding, what?"

"They have been fighting... fighting for their lives and the lives of their clan everyday."

"From whom?"

"The 'Made', dear one. Even now they hunt us wherever we go, but because we are spread so far and wide, so must they spread themselves to search for us. In smaller numbers, they are much easier to evade and prepare for."

"They have been fighting all this time?"

"Desigur... every night there are battles being waged in the streets of the cities and towns across the world, small battles but battles nontheless... they even fight around you, My Love, right before your eyes and you have not seen even one of them."

"The murders... the murders in the allies...I was right."

"You were." Once more she nodded and Kenshin felt her arms tighten. "But you must listen to me, Beloved... you must be careful now... the Vampire responsible for these particular murders does not kill at random and she does not kill for the pleasure. It is her assignment, she is a Slayer, A warrior... and she is not an ordinary 'Pure Blood', she is very special."

"Special? Special how? I don't understand?"

"She is your Mate, Dear one."

"My Mate?!"

"Desigur. She is The Source. It is through her blood that you will fully realize and achieve your strength and power."

"Her blood? Do you mean... are you saying..." He began to tremble in her arms.

"She must bite you, and then you must bite her... the joining of your bloods will bond your hearts and souls together in ways you cannot even begin to imagine... but it will be her blood that will be the key to unlock the power within you that Crede has been suppressing all of your human life... Her blood will set you free and make you what you are meant to be... you will become The Fang of Pythagoras.... and no ones strength will match your own... Not even Gustov Uriel's." Kenshin's head was swimming with the magnitude of all of this amazing information and he could feel a dull ache beginning in the base of his skull as the tension and enormity of the situation began to take its toll.

"My Mate..." He breathed in awe as he tried to picture what she might look like in his mind.

"Desigur, and you must keep her from being caught by your... policemen. They will try to kill her with their guns and bullets. You must not let her die. If you do, everything we have worked for all these long centuries will be lost."

"How can I keep her safe if I can't find her, Grand-Mother? No one has been able to even get so much as a hair sample off any of her victims... how do I find her?"

"I will help you," Once more her voice became that soft, gentle tone with its underlying edge of steel seeping through and Kenshin pulled away from the comfort of her undamaged throat and shoulder to look into her shimmering eyes.

"How? How can you help me?" Suddenly he felt like a lost child who knew nothing and he desperately wanted to know the answers... all of the answers.

"You must do everything I tell you too, child... are you willing?" A shiver lanced up his spine as he felt his first glint of unease with her since they had spoken.

"I... yes, I... I am willing."

"Do you trust me, My Love? Do you believe that I would only do things that are meant to help you and not cause you harm?" Again the trepidation knifed its way though his soul and Kenshin felt little tension knot forming in the pit of his stomach. What the hell was she getting at? What was so damn ominous that she was trying to prepare him by scaring the shit out of him?

"Y-yes, I trust you." His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper and he swallowed hard against the dry lump forming in his throat his eyes growing wide as she moved purposefully toward him.

"Then, for all that is good and righteous in this world, Ken-san... bite me."

"Wh-what?" He croaked as she inclined her head to the side exposing her undamaged throat to him.

"Bite me... drink.... take some of my blood, child, and it will help you find Vampire energy and follow it, but you must drink... do it now." The chilling command hammered into his frozen brain and Kenshin's wild violet gaze darted to her face finding it calm and expectant as she waited. "Bite me, Ken-san... bite me and drink."

"But... but, isn't this just a vision? A dream?" He stumbled backward nearly falling down in the process. "You aren't real... are you?"

"You have touched me, have you not?"

"I... yes, but..."

"Did I feel real to you?"

"Yes, but..."

"We are in the place between the worlds of the living and the dead... your soul and mine, and here, we are real... do you believe me?"

"I don't know what I believe anymore..." Kenshin shook his head in dismay as she approached him once more. "But if you are real, then I have no choice, do I?"

"There are always choices, My Love... did not the spirit of the Mother tell you that when she placed the choice of your future before you?"

"How do you know that?"

"We are connected, dear one... through our blood, just as Crede told you we were. I was waiting for you to make your choice and praying you would choose the path that led you to this place... to me... to The Place of The One and you did."

"I have run away and played the denial game as long as I can... haven't I?"

"Desigur, you have. It is time to take up the Mantle of your Station, My Love... it is time to step onto the path of your Fate and take your place among those who have waited with so much faith for you for such a long time."

"I... I am... afraid."

"I know... I would be worried about you if you were not." His head snapped up and he stared into her beautiful serene face in shock.

"You... you would?"

"Of course... A Leader who is unafraid is a poor Leader because he has no morals, no conscience, and no real love for those he leads. Thus, his he and his people are weak even if their numbers are large."

"Uriel..."

"You understand quickly. That is good." She smiled once more and cupped his cheek in her hand. "Arrogance and pride are the tools of defeat, My Love. As long as Gustav believes he is invincible, he is vulnerable... that is his weakness. Remember it well, and use it against him."

"I will." He nodded and covered her hand with his so he could tenderly kiss the palm. "Will I see you again?" He asked anxiously.

"Perhaps, if the time comes that you need me again... perhaps." And then she was gently but deliberately pulling him into her firm embrace cradling his head against her shoulder as she pressed his lips into her fragile throat. "Drink, My Love... and become Great." Suddenly Kenshin wasn't afraid of her anymore... wasn't afraid of what she wanted to do, and somewhere inside his head he felt a part of him stir and stretch as if trying to wake from a long slumber, and as it did so, he could feel the beginnings of sharp pointed fangs growing from his upper canines.

"Astonishing..." He whispered as he opened his mouth and let his tongue slide along the sensitive hollow of her throat instinctively finding that certain place where the blood flowed the heaviest and began laving it tenderly in a slow almost erotic motion. A low moan slipped free from her as she urged him closer begging him to take what she offered, and as a deep throated growl rumbled from low inside his chest, Kenshin swiftly and cleanly sank his fangs into her sweet flesh feeling an immediate surging of her hot blood as it flooded over his tongue and down his throat.

Ecstasy... mindless ecstasy. That was what he was experiencing as the rich honey thick blood poured through his senses drowning him in a pleasure he had never known existed or was even possible. A heat that was completely unnatural but utterly intoxicating suffused every nerve ending in his body and he suddenly felt as if he might burst with just the pure joy of being that rushed through his heart and soul. He could feel her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and shoulders, and a part of him reveled in the fact that her agonized moans of pleasure were because of him and his hands fell to her slender hips roughly pulling her closer to him as his fangs sank ever deeper into the succulence that was her.

Then, she was pushing him away with a strength that defied her small stature and he stumbled falling to the ground as a wave of dizziness washed over him causing him to lose his balance. Holding his head in his hands, Kenshin moaned in discomfort as he waited for the world to right itself, and as he did, his mind started to race at an alarming rate of speed. Thoughts, images, half-conceived ideas all rushed by so quickly that the surge of nausea that rose within him caught him by surprise, and he found himself leaning over and vomiting onto the frozen ground. Opening his eyes, he blankly observed his own regurgitated leavings noting that it was indeed, blood, but it could have only been a fraction of the amount he had drank off of her.

"You try to take too much your first time, child..." Her breathless voice brought him around and he saw that she was holding the side of her neck with one hand and her stomach with the other. "You are not ready for so much as you took..."

"It... it was amazing." He whispered in awe and as his vision slowly began to clear, the night suddenly began to come alive before his very eyes. "What the...?" Struggling to his feet, Kenshin looked around himself in wide-eyed wonder. "Everything is... so bright... and the colors... Oh my God... the colors." Before him the Palace was a gleaming tower of glowing mauve and the surrounding gray granite stones had turned to a brilliant sparkling silver as the moonlight shone downward catching each nuance and shift in the chiseled surfaces. The ground itself was peppered with dancing lights of blue, green, red, and white as small stones caught and reflected the purity of the light turning it into a kaleidoscope of colors beneath his very feet as it stretched endlessly across the icy mountaintop. It seemed the night had come alive with the brilliance of hidden colors that only his Vampire eyes could show him, and Kenshin found himself entranced by the sheer beauty and wonder of it all.

But it was the blood that truly captured the essence of the moonlight to reveal its deepest and most glorious beauty that even in death could not be quelled. Every drop, every stream, every splatter gleamed and shimmered like the most brilliant rubies and richest silks he had ever seen or could have imagined... and it was glowing like red satin everywhere. Turning in a slow arduous circle, Kenshin surveyed the newly exposed battlefield, the thousands upon thousands of dead and mangled bodies that shimmered before his new Vampire eyes and, in his own personal horror, finally understood what being The One was really all about.

It was about this... the blood.... the murders of over 8,000 innocent people who had not deserved to die without being given the chance to defend themselves. Gustav Uriel had not declared War when he led the Revolution upon Ameck, he had declared genocide and had nearly succeeded in putting an end to the 'Pure Blood' species forever. He and his Army had killed without thought, prejudice, or remorse and despite their reasonings for doing what they had done, it was still wrong.

One does not wage war upon the innocent, nor does one spill the blood of one's enemy without just cause or declaration. It was true, there had been abuse of the 'Made' by many of the 'Pure Bloods' who 'owned' or 'employed' them, and the government was trying to limit their numbers in an effort to spare the human population their 'curse', but those were not good enough reasons to wreck the havoc and decimation they had wrought upon these peoples and their innocents. Before him, glowing upon the ground in puddle after puddle, body upon body, was proof of how many had died and deep within his heart Kenshin knew why he had been chosen.

"It has to stop," He whispered into the cold night air seeing for the first time the translucent puff of steam his breath created in front of his face. "He can't be allowed to do this again... someone has to stop him..."

"Someone, Ken-san?" Nadia walked up behind him and placed her hand upon his shoulder feeling the muscles flexing in agitation beneath his skin. "Who? Who can stop such a thing as this from happening again? No one has been able to stand up to fight him for hundreds of years... who will stop it?"

"I will." It was a lead solid statement that almost sounded like a threat as Kenshin turned to face her one more time. "I'm a policeman, and a damn good one at that. I know how to plan and I know how to give orders, and I know how to make people listen to me." He paused and looked up into the darkness of the night sky and stared at the fullness of the moon for a long moment, and then spoke again. "I find people for a living... and this asshole is going to be no exception... I 'will' find him, and then we shall see what we shall see."

"You must be prepared, My Love. You must find your Mate and her sensei... they will help you gather the Clan's, and they will teach you to fight."

"I already know how to fight, Grandfather taught me."

"Desigur, I know, but now you must learn to fight like a Vampire, dear one... and that is different." He had not thought of that.

"I have to leave now, Grand-Mother. I have much to do."

"Desigur, your Mate needs you, Ken-san." His gaze whipped back to her in alarm at the tone of her voice.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"They will find her soon ... your policemen... they will find her, and she will not be able to escape."

"What's going to happen to her?" His alarm was growing by leaps and bounds as a strange fear reached inside of him and gripped his heart strangling it and making him catch his breath in pain.

"They are going to shoot her... in the ally. They are going to corner her and she is going to be shot..."

"NO!" He shouted furiously and suddenly he was running blindly through the sparkling mist toward a place that he somehow knew was the way out, and as his breathing accelerated and his heart began to thunder wildly inside of his chest, Kenshin's mind began to scream in a primitive fury and anger he had never known himself capable of. "Don't touch her you bastards! Don't touch HER!!" A solid wall of blackness rose before him, and he threw himself against it like a battering ram and burst through. The razor sharp shards of the shattered wall exploded in all directions as he rolled through unharmed.

One moment he was moaning and thrashing among the twisted sheets on the bed, the next he sat bolt upright, flaming amber eyes wide open, lips pealed back in a frightening snarl baring his elongated viciously looking canines, and then in a blur of flaming red he was gone leaving his bewildered partner behind shouting his name frantically.

"Keeeennnshhin??"

Please Review... I would appreciate it. Feed back is most helpful.


	5. Fists and Fangs

A/N: This is a fanfiction that I am writing over on Adultfanfiction.net. But, I am toning the Lemon activity down so I can publish it over here on FF.net. (Toning it waaaaaaaay down). My beta reader, Haruko, does not review this story because of its origins on AFF.net... so please bear with the mistakes I have missed.

1. Warning: Coarse street talk. Blood, violence. Pure Bloods cannot climb up and down walls like a bug or hang from ceilings like 'Made's' can. They can, however, jump very high depending upon individual strength and longevity.

Disclaimer: I do not condone or believe in Police brutality, and though I believe it goes on at times, I do not think it happens enough within our Law Enforcement System to justify how many Policemen are viewed. So, up front, I am apologizing for the scene of police brutality that used in this chapter, but it was a necessary evil... and, as I am always trying to make my characters 'real' and more three dimensional, it is true, that Cops get very pissed off when one of 'their own' get's killed... and they usually want to go 'after' the person who did the killing. I am not excusing this behavior, but it is an understandable emotion... and sometimes, even the best of us can lose our grip on our control when it comes to something that is very close to us... like losing a partner.

Clarification: Why is Kaoru such a bitch? Welllll.... at the moment she is not really a bitch, she is just a very strong, very self centered self assured Slayer who thinks she doesn't need anyone's help or advice. She thinks she is the best there is... humility is always the most difficult lesson to learn... and often the most painful. I have written her as a strong character because I wanted her to be one... She is exactly what I want her to be.... Strong, opinionated, brassy, arrogant, and tough as nails... but everyone has their breaking point, and everyone has their soft spots... It just takes the right person to find them, and the right situation to bring them to the surface. .

Standard disclaimers apply... I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of those fab. Characters.

Chapter Five

Fists and Fangs

New York City... Ally/streets

April 2004, The Weekend

Sunday Night, 9:32 p.m.

Characters:

Kenshin Himura

Kaoru Kamiya

Richard Wimsey/Police Officer

Ed Springfield/Police Officer

Dave Mitchell/Police Officer

Lyle Carter/Police Officer

Tony Simpson/Police Officer

Charlie Fuenttez/Police Officer

Teddy Marco/Rookie Officer

Nick Jackson/Police Officer

"All right, Little girl... just come on out and nobody will get hurt..." Officer Richard Wimsey slowly approached the darkened end of the boxed-off alley his hand hovering over the grip of his 9mm as he went. Just behind him his partner, Ed Springfield, was backing him up doing the same thing. Neither one of them had been prepared for what had happened that night and their call for back-up had been over five minutes ago and still no one had shown up yet. It looked like they were on their own with this one.

"Go to hell..." The feminine voice spat viciously from the darkness where they new the little minx was hiding, and the two men exchanged frustrated looks with one another. This was not working out as well as they had hoped. But then again, nothing had from the moment they had laid eyes on this wicked beauty as she was dropping her obviously dead victim to the ground in the alleyway down on 59th street.

They had gone in guns drawn shouting for her to freeze and to put her hands behind her head which had done... for about three seconds, and then she had hissed at them like some sort of rabid cat showing them fangs that should have been inside of a bears mouth just before disappearing down the ally. Holstering their nines, they had given quick pursuit not even sure they were going to be able to follow the lightening quick shadow, but they had gotten lucky. She made a bad turn and got herself boxed into a dead end with no stairs or doorways and the walls were at least 60 ft high if not more.

She was caught. But she wasn't giving up, and neither was sure how to proceed.

"Look here, Missy... I don't want to shoot you and you don't want to get shot, so let's just do this by the book... nice and easy. What do you say? Come out peaceful like and we'll all go down to the station and have a little talk."

"Sure we will, Officer... and then you lock me up and forget where the key is until your anal retentive Captain show's up in the morning and you serve me up with his coffee and dounuts like a prize out of a crack-jacks box."

"Geez... she's a smart-mouthed bitch." Ed scratched his chin where his usual five o'clock shadow had turned into tomorrow's argument with his wife.

"What do you think we ought to do, Ed?"

"Hell if I know, Richard... but we can't let her get away. You saw what happened back there, man. She just wasted that guy."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah... I'm not stupid you idiot... I meant, what do we do with her until we get some decent back-up?"

"Shit! What are you asking me for? You're the senior partner. I thought you were supposed to know how to handle stuff like this."

"Jeepers, '_Dick'_," The sound of a feminine dripping with sarcasm and disdain voice drifted out to the men interrupting their heated discussion and drawing their attention back to the dark ally. "Sounds to me like you got a real problem there, Dude... What with Eddy-boy not knowing his balls from his ass and you not having the guts God gave a piss-ant..."

"Shut your trap, Bitch!" Richard bristled angrily at her condescending tone... and the disparaging nick-name. Deep throaty laughter filtered back at him and he realized he had just been manipulated into the unseemly outburst by the conniving wench and her well placed barbs. _'Dammit!_' He thought, _'I gotta stay in control here... I'm in control, not her.'_

"Shame on you, _'Dick_'... you aren't supposed to verbally harass your would-be prisoners... What' would the Captain say? Tsk tsk tsk." More laughter followed along with the sounds of shuffling feet and other movement.

"Hey!" Ed barked into the dark shadows. "Don't you be thinking you can get away with anything in there, little girl... we won't hesitate to shoot you if we have to."

"Of course, you won't, Eddy-boy... why, that's why you carry around that sorry excuse of a pea-shooter isn't it? So you can shoot your unarmed suspects?"

"WE don't do that!" He shouted succumbing to her barbs just as his partner had.

"Of course, you don't... Cop's never shoot the wrong people... or accidentally shoot their prisoners... or make mistakes... or fuck up... do they... Eddy-boy? Cop's are perfect, aren't they?"

"If you don't shut-up your crap, Woman... I'm gonna forget that I'm one of the GOOD Cops and I'm gonna blow your freaking head off."

"Ooooh Eddy... I think I'm scared.... I think I might even pee my pants I'm so scared.... Oh, please don't shoot me, Eddy... Please..." And then the ally was filled with loud raucous laughter as she openly mocked him with her careless attitude. "You couldn't hit the side of an outhouse if your Mother stood you up in front of it and pointed your gun for you."

"That's it you filthy bitch!" He hollered as he yanked his pistol from its holster and pointed it into the darkness. "Your dead..." But before he could start pulling the trigger, Richard grabbed him by the wrist and forced his arm down.

"What the hell are you doing, you stupid moron? You can't just shoot a suspect like that... You'll lose your badge... go to jail... shit, Ed. Get a grip on yourself, can't you see she's trying to get to you, and doing a damn good job at it."

"Fine... I'm fine." Ed yanked his arm out of his partner's grasp. "But if she doesn't shut her mouth, I swear... I swear to God, Rich... I'm gonna put a bullet in her head."

"Just wait for the back-up, Ed... they are on their way... just wait. Let's do this the right way or she'll walk... got me, Partner?" He looked over at the seething man who was still staring furiously into the darkness and whacked him on the shoulder. "I said, do you get me?"

"Yeah, I get you!"

"Good, now holster that damn gun before I do it for you."

"Yes Sir." Ed slid his 9mm back into its custom holster all the while hearing the soft chuckling of the girl as it drifted out of the black hole at the end of the ally. _'You and me got unfinished business, girly.' _He thought maliciously as he eyes tried to find her shape in the dark nothingness before him, but could see no definable shapes_. 'No one mocks Ed Springfield and gets away with it... no one.'_

As it was, Kaoru had never known fear until now, keeping her bravado up was the only way she could think of to keep these two cops off balance so she could think. They had caught her completely by surprise, and that bothered her, bothered her enough that she had blown her concentration, got mixed up on the ally ways and made a very bad mistake. Now she was boxed in and the walls were too high to jump, and she was beginning to experience something she had never felt before. Anxiety... her palms were sweating, her breathing was becoming shallow and irregular, and her heart rate was going through the roof. If she didn't find a way out of this mess before their so-called back-up arrived, she was going to be in a world of hurt because even SHE couldn't dodge that many bullets no matter how fast she was. She had to think. There had to be a way around these two idiots without having to kill them... if only the ally were wider... if only...

The sound of sirens broke through her concentration and a shiver of cold apprehension slithered up her spine setting off all the warning alarms inside of her brain... time was up...compromise planning was over, and as three more squad cars pulled up just outside the opening of the ally, Kaoru crouched down low assuming an attack position even as she wedged herself into one of the dank and dusty debris filled corners.

Six more police officers were counted as they approached the two who were standing watch, and as the scent of their bodies reached her highly sensitive nostrils, the female growled low in her throat and bared her fangs in response to the threat they represented. _'I'm cornered...' _Her primitive hind brain registered the life-threatening fact and began pumping adrenaline into her already powerful body increasing her strength and speed more than a hundred fold. _'Must survive... must... survive... must...' _

"You're sure she's still in there, Rich?"

"Course I am. Me and Ed been standing here the whole time, and we haven't see anybody come out, besides, she's been trying to bait us into some sort of a conflict trying to get us to drop our guard ever since we cornered her in there... and she's not doing to bad a job at it either, I might add."

"What do you mean? Not doing to bad a job? You guys didn't rough her up didja?"

"Nah... but Eddy here just about put a bullet in her a bit ago."

"What? Are you kidding me?"

"Nope... she really yanked his chain but good. I really think he was going to do it... if I hadn't stop him that is."

"Shit, Ed. Don't you know what could happen to you if you killed or injured a suspect, Man?"

"Yeah, I know, Jackson... so just shut your hole, all right. I've already had the speech from my partner here... don't need to hear it again."

"Damn hot head. Your gonna get yourself killed or locked up one of these days if you don't learn to calm down, Man."

"I thought I told you to shut-up, Jackson."

"Sheesh... How do you stand working with him, Rich?" The Officer named Jackson turned and looked at Richard and found him with a disgusted expression all over his face.

"Lots of coffee, Jack... lots and lots of coffee."

"Coffee, hell... I'd be bringing me a bottle on shift if I was you... Damn!"

"Well, Jack... I guess that's why YOU aren't his partner and I am, eh?" The two men started to laugh as Ed humped his shoulders up inside of his flack jacket angrily. No one understood him or liked him, but that was all right. He didn't much like any of them either, and after tonight, well it wasn't going to matter, one way or the other. They were all out here in a dark ally with a highly dangerous suspect who was capable of heaven knew what, and all sorts of accidents were possible. All sorts...

"Hey Ed... Come on, Man... we need to get regrouped already, get your ass over here."

"Yeah, yeah... I'm coming." As he turned his back to join the others, a flash of movement caught the corner of his eye and his reflexes jerked him back just in time to pull his nine halfway out of its holster and utter a single terrified cry of terror before the red-eyed snarling demon leaping soundlessly through the air struck him full force center mass with both feet. He slammed to the ground with a sickening 'thud' feeling his ribs cave in puncturing both of his lungs causing white hot pain to explode through his chest, and up into his neck. The breath left him in one great bloody 'Whoosh', and he found he could not draw air back except for the tiniest squeaks and sputtering sounds.

Opening his eyes, Ed beheld above him a magnificent creature of glorious beauty yet monstrous deformities for, though her face was that of an Angel, she bore the fangs and burning red eyes of a demon from the deepest hell. Even her delicate hands which seemed better suited for a pianist were tipped with long curving talons that could rip his flesh open in one flick of her wrist._ 'I'm dying...' _He thought, as he gazed up at her while struggling to breath_. 'I'm looking at the Angel of Death, and I'm dying... God... help me...'_

"God doesn't want you, Eddy." She whispered down to him and noted the widening of his eyes when he realized she had read his thoughts. "You've done nothing but hurt others all your miserable fucking life..."

"Noooo...." He rasped and tried to reach for her but found he could no longer move.

"Yes, what about Emma... and Susie? What about them? How many times have your drunken fists pounded the shit out of them because dinner wasn't just right? Or your uniform wasn't ironed just so? Or your beer wasn't cold enough? Or just because you felt like it? How many, Eddy? How many?"

"Soo-rry..." 'How did she know that? How did this black-haired, fanged Angel know he beat his wife and kid? _'How....'_

"Too late for that... you should have thought about that a long time ago." And she turned away disappearing into the darkness leaving him laying on his back bleeding inside and slowly suffocating from two punctured lungs.

"Heeelllpp mmmeeee...." He wheezed trying to get someone's attention, but they were all huddled together talking and no one seemed to notice that he wasn't there until his partner, Richard, turned around to yell at him again and found that Ed was not with the group.

"What the... Hey, Ed? Where the hell are you?"

"Rrriich..." The rasping whisper caught Richard's attention and he finally noticed the shine of his partners black satin jacket gleaming halfway back into the dark ally where he was laying on the ground.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed in a voice that was half filled with panic. Grabbing his shoulder radio, he yelled, "Officer down! Officer down! 56th and Wilshire! I repeat... Officer down! Send an ambulance. Eddy! Oh my God!" Richard pulled his nine from its holster on his right hip, cocked it, and started back into the ally. "Jackson, Marco... back me up... Fuenttez, Mitchell, you guys pull your riots out and cover the left, Carter, you and Simpson do the same and cover the right... Ready...Go!" And everybody moved taking up position in a matter of seconds.

After waiting and making sure that all of the men were settled in, Richard waved to the two officer's behind him and motioned for them to follow him as he slowly eased his large frame up the side of the ally wall. "I'm coming, partner." He called softly. "You just hang in there, Ok?"

"Demmmon..."

"Don't try to talk, Ed... Just you lay still, help's on its way." Richards eyes narrowed back into the inky darkness as he tried to penetrate the heavy veil but it was useless. He couldn't see a thing. "I know you're back there, Little Girl... I can smell that dog piss you got on... where'd you get it anyway?"

"The last Policeman's charity benefit." Was the hushed throaty reply, and Richard had to smile. She had guts, he'd give her that. She was in way over her head now that she'd hurt one of their own, but the bitch had guts.

"That's cute, you know..." He said, trying to judge where her voice had come from and pinpointing it off to his middle left somewhere. "You're a real funny girl... too bad you're in so much trouble. I like funny girls... Why I bet you and me could have got along better under different circumstances, whatdaya think?"

"I think you're full of shit." Richard chuckled but took careful note that her voice had moved sharply to his left. She was moving away from him.

"Ahh, now that's not a nice thing to say, is it, Babe?" He chided as he continued to ease his way into the darkness past Ed's body. Looking down at his injured partner, Richard could barely make out any respiratory movements at all, and that worried him. What the hell had she done to him anyway? "You telling me I'm not your type, girly? Is that it?"

"You could say that."_ 'There are too many of them...' _She thought as the true reality of her situation started to sink in and suddenly Kaoru felt like a little girl_. '... too many guns... too many bullets... I can't... I... Papa...I'm.............I'm afraid.'_

"Well... what is your type... tell me that and maybe we could work something out, hmmm?" He looked back and gave a nearly imperceptible signal to the two officers guarding the left side of the ally telling them to begin advancing inside, and slowly they too started easing their way along the opposite wall toward the darkness.

"So, what's up, _'Dick'_?" The soft husky voice drifted out to the men from the very center of the ally catching them all by surprise and causing everyone to stop in his tracks. "Are you trying to pull a fast one on me? Hmmmm? Do you really think I don't _SEE_ you and your little soldiers sneaking up on me from back here? Do you think I'm blind... or just stupid?"

"Well, now... I don't actually think your either, Little girl... but, ahh, I do think we are going to take you down... one way or another."

"Really?" _'Papa... I don't think I'm coming home tonight...'_

"Yes, Ma'am... really. Unless of course, you decide to do the smart thing and come with us peaceful."

"You mean... give myself up."_ 'I will make you proud... I swear I will... I won't give up.. I won't.'_

"Yeah... that's what I mean."

"Sorry, _'Dick', _but I can't do that." _'Forgive me for my arrogance... forgive me... I was wrong... I was... wrong...Oh Papa... I was so wrong.'_

"I was afraid you were going to say that... I guess we'll have to play it your way... you want to play hard-ball... so lets play hard-ball."

"Wouldn't want it any other way, _'Dick'_... bring it on." _'I'll remember what you taught me...Papa.... I'll remember.... and I'll take some of them with me, I won't go down easy.... you taught me to be a fighter, a Slayer, and I was the best... but.... but... I never knew what that really meant... forgive my pride... I never knew... I never understood... all these years... I never...'_

"LOAD 'EM UP!" He shouted, and the five remaining men lowered their weapons aiming into the void of darkness where the female was hiding. "Let's try not to kill her... if we can."

"Yes Sir..." _'I love you, Papa... I'm still your little girl... I'm still your little jasmine flower... I'm still your....'_

"RIP IT!" And the sound of dozens upon dozens of bullets being fired simultaneously inside a contained area suddenly tore through the night, and the darkness inside the boxed end of the ally began to light up as the powder flashes from the guns and rifles exploded in brief brilliant flashes of white. What these men saw during those brief momentary flashes was something that would linger in the memories of those who survived for a very long time.

Running. Running so fast that the world was only a blur to his vision. A melting of lights, people, cars, buildings, trees... everything bled together until it became an endless blurring river of color without texture or form... there was not even sound for he raced by so swiftly that not even they could catch him.

Pulling... she was pulling him. He could _'feel_' her... feel her blood pulling him toward her. It was sobbing... crying... screaming inside of his head in fear and despair... she was afraid... she was in danger... she was... injured. _'Noooooooooo!'_ His heart screamed as it strained against the confines of his chest struggling to reach out for her... to hold her... cradle her... comfort her... save her.

Save her... he had to save her. She was his beginning... his end.... his life and death. His Soul. _She was the Source._

Vampire vision and lightening speed helped Kaoru dodge, jump, and duck the screaming projectiles as they came at her in an endless stream of death and destruction, but even her well honed Slayer skills were not completely infallible as she crouched down, doubled over, overcome with pain, and bleeding from several wounds. Most of the injuries were superficial grazes, but one was not and she knew from her own experiences with comrades', that should it go unattended for very long, she would surely die.

Looking down to where her hand pressed against her right side, she judged that the bullet had gone straight through her liver without severing any main arteries or vessels, but she was still slowly bleeding to death and needed medical attention immediately.

The Officers had stopped shooting for the moment waiting to see what was happening with her.

Was she dead?

Was she wounded?

Would she give up now?

They waited, none of them believing yet what they had just seen.

"Did I just see her dodging bullets?" Jackson's voice was a little shaky as he slid down the wall and knelt next to Richard and his partner, Marco.

"Sure as hell what it looked like to me." Marco replied as he loaded another clip into his nine. "Damnedest thing I ever saw in my life... ain't never seen anybody that could move that fast... nobody."

"Me neither... it's not humanly possible, I mean... It's just not."

"What are you getting at, Jackson?" Richard turned a frustrated face to the two shaken men. "Are you trying to say this little girl isn't human?"

"Hey, I don't know, all right... I don't know. All I do know is what I saw her doing back there... the way she was moving and shit... Hell, reminded me of the shit we saw in the '_Matrix_' movies, you know... that 'bullet time' crap."

"Jesus, Jack... get a hold of yourself. Are you losing it, or what?" Richard reached out and grabbed the shoulder sleeve of the other officer's uniform and gave it a hard jerk. "That wasn't no 'movie bullet-time' shit, got me? I know we hit her... she's either dead back there, or else she's down. We just gotta wait and see what's going on, all right? You frosty, Man?" Jackson and Marco looked at each other exchanging worried glances which just seemed to make Richard that much more angry. "HEY! DICKWEED! I said _are you frosty, Man_?"

"Yeah, yeah... we're frosty... we're frosty. Lay off." Marco slapped Richard's hands off both him and Jackson's flack jacket's in irritated anger and then leveled a glare at the other officer.

"You just lay off, Man... WE know what we saw... so do you. You're just too chicken-shit to admit it."

"Shut you hole, rookie... before I shut it for you."

"Yeah... whatever."

Closer... so much closer. How many miles had he covered and how fast had he covered them? His mind could not even begin to fathom the concept of what he was doing, but... that was not what was important at the moment. What was important was that he reach _HER_ in time... Her pain cried out to the sky even as her heart cried out to his, and he could smell her blood, taste it even as it dripped in a constant stream from her body. Her life was oozing away and she was becoming weaker by the moment... Hurry... hurry... _hurry._

"Hey there, Little girl... You still back there?" Richard eased his way farther into the darkness thinking that once his eyes got used to it he would be able to find her without a problem, but then he had an idea. "Shit," He mumbled in irritation. "Why didn't you think of that before you big dumb-ass." Slowly he turned and looked at Marco. "Go back to your car and get a flashlight..."

"Right..." And Marco carefully made his way back to the squad car and retrieved a flashlight from the trunk bringing it back and handing it to Richard.

"Thanks... why didn't any of us think of this before?" Jackson and Marco looked at each other and shrugged. "I guess we were all too worried about Eddy... just went straight to the guns."

"Hummph.... that sure isn't gonna look good on a report, Marco. You're gonna have to come up with something that sounds better than that if you don't want the Chief coming down on your back like a wild hyena." Then Richard looked across the ally and made eye contact with the other officers and motioned them that things were on the move again. "Did you hear me, Little girl?" He called again. "You still with me, doll?"

"Do..n't call m-me doll, '_Dick'._" The voice was low... lower than it had been, and laced with pain but still full of the same bravado and gutsy _'go to hell' _attitude. Richard couldn't believe it.

"Now, how in the hell did you manage to get out of the way of all those bullets, girl? We'd all really like to know that? Jackson and Marco here say you're not human... I say you're just lucky... which is it?" Raspy laughter greeted his question and he had to smile as he finally once again pinpointed her location as somewhere right-center.

"I g-guess that de..pends on your p-point of view, '_Dick'._"

"My point of view? Now why would you say that, girl?" He asked as he flipped on the flashlight and began panning it across the back wall.

"Depends on wh-what you consider h...uman." At that moment the beam of the light fell upon the half kneeling half crouched from of a woman whose long ebony hair was dangling in the dust and dirt at her feet. As the light hit her, she looked up into it and it illuminated a face of exquisite beauty that was now streaked with blood from a flesh wound over her right eye. Grayish dirt was smeared over her porcelain perfect cheeks giving her an unnatural ghoulish appearance. Blood was oozing between the fingers of her left hand where it was pressed tightly against her right side, and the evidence of more shone stickily from her black leather pants.

"Well, well, well..." Richard stood up and motioned for his counter parts to do the same. "Looky what we have here..." Holstering his gun, he ambled over to the woman stopping within six or seven feet of her. "Looks like your all used up, girly..." She said nothing in response, just lowered her eyes and groaned in a low tone. "Oh... is the poor little girl hurting? Did the Cop's and their big bad guns hurt the poor little girl?" Still she didn't move or speak. "Well, now aren't you something? You sure did have a lot to say when I couldn't see you, didn't you?" Carefully he advanced on her being sure to watch her every move. "You sure messed up Ed... what the hell did you do to him anyway, huh? You think I ought to make you pay for what you did to him? I think he's dead by now... if not, he's damn close to it. He has a wife and a little girl, you know... a family. Does that mean anything to somebody like you?" Suddenly filled with inexplicable anger, Richard reached down and grabbed a handful of her long black hair and yanked her head back forcing her to look at him. "_Does it?_ Do you even know what it means to have a family, you murdering bitch? I ought to do you right here." Pulling his fist back, Richard looked into her face for a moment and then let his anger lead him.

The strength behind the punch hit Kaoru in the left side of her jaw and sent her crashing to the ground her head swimming. For a human, Richard had a hellova right-cross. "Did you like that, Little girl? Huh? Did you? Is that the kind of stuff you're used to... the rough and ugly shit? Well, I can give you rough and ugly, all you want. Get up... come on, I said get up!" His anger was completely out of control, and Kaoru was getting weaker by the moment. "You stepped onto the wrong playing field tonight, baby... I play hard-ball remember... Looks like I win... you lose."

"You think? _Dick_?" She gritted out speaking for the first time, her huge bottomless blue eyes staring up at him as she rolled to her side and then fluidly rose to her feet and faced him squarely. "I heard it different... I heard it ain't over til the fat lady sings..."

"There are no fat ladies, girly... there's just me... and you... and the back of the paddy-wagon where all kinds of accidents can happen." Richard smiled feeling very smug as he pulled his hand cuffs out with one hand and balled his other up into a hammer-like fist. "Come on... Like I said....You lose, let's go." She looked down at the cuffs and his fist, and then looked back up into his smirking face. "One way or another, girly, you are coming with me. This is over... now... fat ladies or not."

"But like you said, _'Dick'_, there are no fat ladies..." The edge in her voice brought he gaze up to her face and Richard saw something flash through her eyes that made his blood run cold. "There's just you... and _me_." The last was said in a voice so low... so low and so quiet, he wasn't sure he had even heard her, but then there was a flash of white followed by an unearthly snarling sound, and Richard found himself being lifted up off the ground by one of her small hands as it wrapped around his throat. _"Just you... and me."_

The other officers watched as their commander walked back into the alley to face the wounded girl, and satisfied that he had everything under control, they began to gather up their weapons and regroup. The startled scream drew their attention back to the darkness and in the next split instant, the severed head of Richard Wimsey sailed out and struck Nick Jackson in the chest splattering blood all over him and his gear.

"SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!" He screamed as he dumped the gory mess out of his arms and stumbled back away from it. "Did you see... did you see... Oh shit... oh shit... oh shit..." He collapsed on the ground puking up the hamburger and fries he had eaten a couple of hours before as his body and mind rejected what he had just seen, and as the others gathered around the decapitated head, the ambulance sirens could finally be heard in the far distance.

"They sure aren't gonna be any help for Rich... Damn... Look at him, the bitch ripped his head clean off... Shit!" Marco was starting to shake as he watched the crimson puddle forming around the head of a man he had only known for six months, but had grown to respect. "How... how did she... Oh shit, Man... Oh God...."

The four remaining lucid officers looked at each other, cocked their riot guns, and turned toward the darkness at the end of the ally.

"Your dead, Bitch!" Carter yelled as he advanced forward first with his partner Fuenttez backing up his left flank. "You just killed a Cop, Lady... and that makes you expendable in our book." Simpson fell in along his right flank and Mitchell completed the diamond by falling in behind him. "So you better make your peace with God... cause we're coming for your sorry ass and we aren't gonna miss..."

"Paa..pa..." The low moan that filtered out of the darkness to them caught them off guard for a moment, and then something they could only describe as a banshee from hell with a ghostly white face surrounded by streaming ebony hair leapt up out of the darkness before them clawed hands raised high over its head ready to attack.

Long white fangs snapped viciously as the snarling beast-woman crashed into Carter's chest sending him careening backward into Mitchell whose gun went off sending the deadly 12 gauge buck-shot flying harmlessly over her head as she sprang off and to the left searching for an escape past Fuenttez, but he blocked her by rushing into the wild charge and throwing her backward.

Kaoru landed hard on broken asphalt sending shards of unbelievable pain exploding out from her wound and nearly numbing her into oblivion, but she refused to give in to the mist that threatened to overwhelm her, and forced herself to roll to her side and find her feet. As she did, Fuenttez was on top of her smacking her hard between the shoulders with the butt of his rifle nearly knocking her to the ground again, but with a great howl of pain and rage, Kaoru lunged up beneath his arm and shoved her talon tipped hand deep into his chest with all the strength she had left.

He grunted and sucked in a deep breath as pain and surprise hit him all at once, and his eyes grew round and cow-like as the dumbness of his own death descended upon him. The wrenching tearing feeling inside of him went beyond pain, and Fuenttez blinked, and then blinked again as he felt himself slipping away from his unnatural opponent, and as he did, he looked up and saw for one brief moment the bloody dripping remains of his own heart grasp firmly in her hand. Then his world went dark and he knew no more.

"Did you see that? Did you? Oh My God.... she just... she just... Jesus... she just ripped Charlies heart out... right out of his chest... Oh my God... Oh shit..." Mitchell was stumbling and scrambling around the ground looking for his rifle which he had lost during the impact with Carter and the female, but he couldn't seem to find it and as he watched in horrified terror while she killed another member of their crew, he suddenly didn't think he cared if he found it again or not.

"Simpson... you got anything, Man? Simpson?!"

But Simpson wasn't going to be answering him any time soon, nor would he be answering anyone for that matter because Tony Simpson was dead.

Kaoru had collapsed over the dead body of Charlie Fuenntez exhausted and spent, knowing that she had fought her last battle, and Tony Simpson had immediately closed in on her with rifle cocked and pointed at her head. But Tony never made the shot... Tony never pulled the trigger... Tony never saw what seized him from behind and twisted his head around in a 180 degree turn severing his spinal cord and killing him instantly. Tony never knew what hit him. But David Mitchell did, and so did Lyle Carter as they huddled together in terrified frozen panic and stared at what could only be described as a Demon, or a Devil... Hell, they didn't know what to call it.

It had appeared out of nowhere... silent as a ghost and materializing like a fine mist until it was solid. It's eyes burned like liquid gold and glowed brighter than any natural or man-made light either man had ever seen... they were like beacon's or lanterns in the darkness and their brightness all but obscured the face they shone from. But they didn't need to see the face... they could see its mouth and that was enough. If they had thought the fangs jutting out of the female's mouth had been awesome and frightening, then the ones present in this Demon's were nothing short of... astonishing.

Even from where they lay huddled together, it was fairly easy to see that each of the two canines were at least 2 full inches long and looked more like daggers hanging in its mouth than teeth. One bite from those fangs and a good shake of its head would no doubt severe a limb... or a head, but neither man wanted to find out so they remained perfectly still and as unthreatening as possible. The Demon looked over at them and opening it's mouth, hissed an angry ugly sound that sent chills up both their spines, and from behind one of the squad cars, Teddy Marco began to cry as he lost control of his bladder.

Carefully the Demon walked over the dead bodies and knelt down in front of the woman, and the gentle touch of a hideously clawed hand tilted her face up until she looked into those burning eyes... and spoke but one word.

"_You_..." In the next moment, the Demon creature had scooped her up into its powerful arms, turned from the carnage that had nearly been her last battlefield, and vanished into this air.

"Did we... are we... what...?" Carter and Mitchell looked at each other as the sound of the ambulance siren rounded the corner and brought the much needed help about ten minutes too late.

"What are we going to tell them?" Carter looked back at the bloody mess that had been four of his friends.

"I don't know, Man... I don't know."

"Do you think they'd believe us if we told them the truth?"

"Oh shit, Man... they'd throw us all in the nut pen for sure."

"Probably, but what are we gonna tell 'em, Dave?"

"Nothin... Alien's... gang fight... hell, I don't know.... something."

"Alien's is good... I vote for the Alien's story."

"You would." Carter grinned shakily and stood up offering a hand to his partner.

"Well, it sound's a hell of a lot more believable than Demon's with two inch fangs that appeared out of nowhere and a girl that can dodge bullets and rip peoples hearts out..."

"Hmmmm... you may have a point there... Let's go check on Marco and Jackson... both of them were pretty traumatized."

"Yeah, and we weren't."

"Geez, you're a baby, Lyle... I never knew that about you... does Helen know, or do I need to tell her?"

"You stay away from Helen... She's my girl."

"Not for long if you keep up with the 'cry-baby' shit."

"You're really an asshole, Mitchell, you know that."

"Hey, somebodies got to do it."

_Next chapters up sometime next week for anyone whose interested. They are already written, they just need to be edited for content. Please Review. Thank you._


	6. Alone

A/N:This chapter has been edited from its original version on It has been edited for content of extreme sexual nature and the rating has been changed from NC-17 to R. It is still restricted for 'Lime' content, language, and graphic violence.

Warning: This chapter contains "Heavy Lime" activity.

Review Response after chapter

Glossary: Lubit=Beloved/Precious/Darling, Cat=What?, Simpatie=Love, Indragostit=Lover, 'Cel'=The One (literal)

Stapan=King/Lord/Husband

Chapter Six

Alone

New York/Kenshin's Apartment

April 2004, The Weekend

Sunday Night, Somewhere around 10:00p.m.

Characters:

Kenshin Himura

Kaoru Kamiya

There was so much blood on his clothes... her blood. He was afraid he had arrived too late when he saw her collapse over the man she had just killed. The rage that had filled him at that moment had surged through his blood like a burning fire, and the fangs and talons that had appeared in the next instant had astonished and stunned him, but he had not stopped long enough to ponder the transformation that had come upon him. Instead, his instincts had taken hold and he had reached out with his new found power and snapped the neck of the officer who was about to shoot her as if it were not more than a twig between his fingers, and then turning towards to the two sniveling cowards shivering on the ground, he had hissed his challenge and found them to be nothing more than rabbits to his greatness. He had passed over them without a second thought.

She was all he wanted... all he cared about... and the pain of her wounded body cried out to him even as her heart cried in exhaustion and shame. He had knelt before her in humility and touched her fact asking with his fingers for her to look at him... asking if she knew him... if she needed him, and he had been rewarded with the most beautiful and dazzling blue eyes he had ever beheld. They reached out to him and touched his heart, cried out in longing to his soul, and blinked in astonished recognition as she leaned into the warmth of his palm.

"You..." She whispered and the greatest joy he had ever known rushed through him and he had lifted her damaged body tenderly into his embrace and departed that place of death and fear.

"You are safe now, my Lubit..." He breathed gently into the mass of her hair as he leapt from one rooftop to another taking her across a pathway of safety where none would dare to follow or think to look. The 60 foot leap up the ally wall had been simple, he had not even strained to accomplish it and he would have her home with him soon... much sooner this way that trying to navigate the streets.

"How..." Her voice was raspy with pain and fatigue, but she desperately needed to ask him something and she tried to pull away from his chest far enough to look into his face. Feeling her struggle, he stopped and gently loosened his grip allowing her some freedom of movement, and as he pushed herself up off his shoulder to look at him, she gasped and pulled away slightly.

"What?" He asked gently when he saw her confusion, and carefully lowered her feet so that she could stand though he kept an arm wrapped possessively around her waist to prevent her from falling. "What do you see, Little one?" His hand tenderly cupped her face and then the long black talons gently tucked some of the stray strands of her black hair behind her ear. "What do you see?"

"I..." Both of her hands were trembling as she lifted them to frame his face and her eyes grew wide with wonder as she gazed upon him. "I see... you are beautiful." She spoke reverently as she reached up and tentatively stroked the wild silken mane of his flowing red hair where it had come loose from its tie and hung over his shoulder, and then she touched his lips which parted beneath her gentle caress revealing the deadly milk white daggers which had receded back to a more manageable size so as not to damage his own mouth.

"Lubit..." He spoke gently as he reached up and captured her wandering hands, "you are injured and bleeding. We must get you home where I can take care of you... after that, you may explore to your hearts content."

"I may? You... YOU would let me?" She sounded almost flabbergasted by his open invitation. "YOU??" Rich warm laughter rumbled in his chest as he raised his taloned hand once more and tenderly stroked her cheek.

"Desigur, lubit... 'I' would let 'you', now be silent so we can be back on our way before you pass out from loss of blood and I beat my head into this roof because I didn't reach you sooner."

"Yes, My Lord..." Kaoru bowed her head and allowed him to sweep her off her feet once more gasping at the strength that flowed through his amazing body as she felt the steel cords of his muscles flexing beneath her hands.

"Why did you call me that?" He asked her in a soft almost confused voice as he made to leap across the gap to the next roof.

"Because... you are 'Him'... aren't you?" They landed soundlessly and he swiftly covered the distance across the building and climbed up onto the heavy cement border.

"Yes... I suppose I am, but... you need not address me with such a formality, my lubit... after all, you are my Mat, are you not?"

"I'm your WHAT?" She squeaked in shock and disbelief. "What did you call me?"

"My 'Mat'..." He replied in an amused voice as he leapt to the next rooftop. "Or perhaps you are not familiar with the old tongue."

"I am an ancient," She sputtered in outrage at his playful barb. "I was born to the old tongue, unlike you, you... you... you twenty-first century..." Suddenly she stopped and clapped a hand over her mouth as she realized just exactly who she was about to insult. Her action was greeted with another bout of deep rolling laughter as he snuggled her closer to his chest.

"I can see things are going to be... interesting between us, very interesting." Then, without warning, he stepped off the edge of the building and sent the two of them careening into empty air. A terrified scream rose up in Kaoru's throat as she felt the world coming up very quickly beneath them and her mind was envisioning all sorts of horrors that had the two of them showing up as greasy red splatters on the pavement below, but that was not what he had in mind. With a swiftness that only reassured in her mind who he had to be, he reached out with one of his taloned hands and suddenly grabbed onto one of the balcony railings that were whizzing by and nimbly flipped them over the edge landing effortlessly on his feet. "You can look now." He said in a voice full of laughter as he noticed how tightly her arms were wrapped around his neck and closely she had pressed her nose and face against his chest. "We are all safe and sound."

"You swear?"

"I swear."

"No more jumping off buildings?"

"Not tonight, lubit." He laughed as he opened the sliding glass doors, crossed the darkened room and, gently set her down on the couch. "Would you like me to turn on the light? Or can you see all right??

"I can see fine... can you?" Kaoru inwardly chided herself for the arrogance that crept into her voice. 'What is the matter with me? I mean... he's... he's... he's infuriating... but...'

"I see very well in the dark, Little one... but, perhaps a little light on the subject would not be such a bad idea. It would give me a better view of your wound."

"I suppose." She agreed reluctantly. "Turn it on then."

"Cover your eyes until you get used to it." The warning was well heeded as she pressed the palms of her hands over her delicate eyes just before he turned the table lamp on illuminating the couch area with bright yellow light. "Well, well... but you are a mess, Lubit..." The statement made her wince inwardly as he looked at the blood covering the tight leather vest she wore as well as streaking along her arms, hands, and face. The bullet holes themselves were clean and small; one on the front and the exit hole on the back.

"Thanks." The sarcasm in her voice brought a smile twitching to his lips as he walked back to the sliding glass door and closed it pulling the heavy curtain over it as well. Looking down at his once white shirt, he found it covered with blood, mud, dirt and God knew what else so he simply tore it off and tossed it across the room.

"Be still," He ordered the woman in a flat tone that made her flinch slightly. "I will be back in a moment and then we will dress your wounds." She heard him walk away and then down what must have been a hallway. The sounds of cupboards being opened and rummaged through floated out to her sensitive ears and slowly she began to ease her hands away for her eyes. The light was not as bad as she thought it was going to be and her eyes adjusted quickly allowing her to look around the room he had left her in. It was not what she expected.

It was clean for one thing. Perhaps spotless was a better word. Every single item in it appeared to have its own place and it looked to have occupied it for a very long time.

One entire wall was made of floor to ceiling shelves with cross-hatched glass doors and shiny brass hinges and nobs. Each shelf was filled with books and a multitude of antiques and other artifacts which quickly caught her attention, and easing herself carefully up off the overstuffed black leather couch, Kaoru walked over to the mini museum and began examining the treasures behind the glass.

An 1800's periscope lay on its side surrounded on one side by a walrus tooth scrimshaw and a ring of brass and silver skeleton keys on the other. Then there was an astrolabe that had to be at least 300 years old carefully perched in a cedar wood pedestal that kept it from touching anything as well as displaying it in all of its glory for anyone lucky enough to see it. But her eyes were totally captivated by the ancient telescope of polished crystals that had been specifically shaped and then aligned in their designated order inside of a leather tube which lay open revealing its hidden treasures. The small concave crystal that served as the eye piece was firmly positioned in the smaller end of the apparatus while a large almost perfectly round one was set at the larger. In between the other oddly shaped crystals would bend and magnify the image until the individual looking through the eye piece was allowed a superficial but breathtaking look into the stars.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The sound of the deep voice beside her made Kaoru jump slightly, but she managed to nod her head in agreement as she gazed in wonder upon the amazing work of minds so old yet so intelligent. "How brilliant and gifted they were... the Theologian's. Centuries before their time, they were."

"Yes," She agreed breathlessly as the scent of his naked flesh reached out and touched her senses making her dizzy. His arms quickly caught her as she swayed and he swept her up once more and carried her back across the room to the couch.

"I thought I told you to stay put.... Hummmm?" Golden crystals looked down into her flushed face with more than a little disapproval as he lay her down and then set next to her.

"Perhaps, in the future, you will be more inclined to listen to me... you think?" A nervous giggle erupted from her and he turned a raised eyebrow in her direction. "I do hope that you aren't planning on giving me any more difficulties tonight, lupit... I think we both deserve a bit of a rest after the goings on tonight... nu?"

"Yes, we do, but..." Kaoru bit her lip as she pondered upon just how she should approach asking him what she wanted to know.

"What?" He lifted a graceful eyebrow at her again as he began removing her leather top so he could get a better look at her side wound. "You are dying to say something... what is it?"

"I... I don't know how to say it... I mean... You're 'Him' for Gods sake... It's like trying to talk to a Legend or a ghost or... or a God."

"I'm not a God," He said as he opened the front of the tight fitting garment causing her to gasp in pain. "And I'm not a ghost... not yet anyway." His brow furrowed as his examined the damage done to her soft tissue, and then reached down on the floor and rummaged through the supplies he had brought up from the closet. After opening several packages of gauze pads, he soaked them with saline from a bottle he kept on hand, and then carefully began to clean the wounds. "As for the Legend part... well, there isn't a whole hell of a lot I can do about that, now is there."

"I... gasp I guess not... you can't gasp ohhh you can't help who you are." He looked at her worriedly and waited for her to nod indicating he could continue before he started cleaning again.

"All right then, lets just assume I'm joe-blow off the street... Ok... I'm nobody, and you can ask me anything you want."

"Right..." She laughed through the pain her blue eyes sparkling as she reached up and stroked his face. "With those amazing eyes, those fangs, and claws... you're nobody... do I look stupid?"

"Do you really want me to answer that, lubit?" He cocked an eyebrow at her as a half smile curved his mouth.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Her voice was as indignant sounding as she could get it considering how much pain she was in.

"Well... let's see, it was quite foolish for you to allow yourself to be cornered in a dead end ally by eight policemen... not two, but eight. And you with nothing but your fangs and fists to protect yourself." There was the touch of a teasing quality to his voice, but beneath it there was also a steely edge that cowed her down and made her lower her eyes before his golden gaze. "Why don't you carry a gun, or even a blade... it would behoove you to start, for emergencies sake. You are not invincible, lubit... none of us are... we can all die no matter how strong we think we may be."

"I know that." Her voice held the tone of an indignant child who was not used to being spoken to in such a manner, and one of his finely arched brows rose as he noted the behavior.

"Then I trust you will not be quite so foolish in the future... will you?" He was pressing the issue with her, and he knew it, but he wanted to know just how far he could go with this little wild cat before she started pushing back.

"You are a good one to talk..." She snapped back suddenly becoming the accuser in the conversation. "...jumping between buildings... off buildings... what the hell was up with that? Did someone tell you you could fly? Do you think your 'Superman' or something?" He leaned back and seemed to ponder her question for a moment while he obtained a few more sponges for cleaning.

"Hmmm, 'Batman' maybe," He said in a thoughtful voice. "But not 'Superman'... no, definitely not 'Superman'..."

"Oh, that is just great." The moan that extracted itself from her slender form was nothing short of pained as she fisted her hands into her eyes. "'The Almighty One' finally shows up after 600 years of waiting and praying, and he turns out to be a wise ass... that is just perfect... juuuust perfect."

"It could be worse, lubit." He said as he dropped the last of the bloody sponges into the plastic bag he had brought with him for that purpose and wiped his hands off on a towel.

"Really? I can't imagine how." She favored him with an 'I don't believe you' look from behind her hands as he began patting her wound dry with some dry pads.

"I could have been someone else completely and we could be oil-slicks on the pavement right now."

"Oh shit..." Kaoru threw her right arm over her eyes in exasperation as he started to chuckle softly. "You still didn't answer my question, fly-boy. How did you do that anyway? I have never seen anyone do anything like that... not even a 'Made', and they are the 'wall-crawlers' in the family."

"Do what? Jump the buildings and all?"

"Well duh? What else do you think I was talking about? I thought you were supposed to be really smart if you were 'The One' and all... how did you do it?"

"Actually... I don't know." At that simply spoken blank sounding answer Kaoru sat straight up nearly bumping heads with Kenshin in her haste and shock.

"What?? What do you mean 'You don't know?'?" She shrieked. "You were the one doing it?"

"Yes, lubit... I realize this... I was there, but that does not necessarily mean I know how or even why I was doing it... I...just did it."

"You just did it?" Her deep blue eyes shone with alarm and confusion as he gently pressed her back down into the soft cushions of the couch. "How can you just 'do' something and not know why or how your doing it?"

"Instincts... I suppose that would be the best answer. Going up over the ally wall and across the tops of the buildings 'seemed' the easiest pathway to take at the time not to mention to quickest... and, it also stood to reason no one would look for either of us up there so... I went that way." His golden eyes turned from her and looked off into space blankly as he considered the oddness of his own statement. "I am unable to deny any longer what is inherently part of my true nature... I am Vampire though I would give almost anything not to be."

"You... you don't want to be what you are?" Her voice filled with incredulity as she realized the magnitude of that revelation. "Why not? You... you are 'The One'... You're HIM. You are supposed to rise up to hold the greatest honors to ever be bestowed upon one of our kind."

"Yes... I realize that, and with that realization comes many things, lubit... the least of which is not the knowledge that I have an enormous responsibility to a people I do not know or understand nor have I met, and I have been ushered into a way of life I would have never chosen for myself to live, but it has been forced upon me irregardless... and because of all of this, the entire fabric of my existence has been changed inside of one day."

"One day?" Kaoru looked horrified. "I... I didn't know..."

"Desigur... this morning I was a human Homicide Detective looking for... well, I was looking for YOU... the 'Broadway Pimp Killer', and tonight... tonight I am 'Cel'... I am 'The One' upon whose shoulders rest all the hopes and faith of an entire species future." Slowly his eyes turned back to her and he gazed sadly into her beautiful face. "I am told I must lead these people... my people into one of the bloodiest wars this world will ever see in order to rid it of the parasite called 'Gustav Uriel', and those who would call themselves his 'people'."

"The Made."

"Desigur, the 'Made'. I am to be responsible for the annihilation of another species in order to keep them from destroying mine."

"But... that is your destiny... the prophecy says it is."

"The prophecy may say it is, but my heart... my soul does not wish it to be so... I would not chose this destiny as my own... do you understand? I do not want 'this' life... I do not want to be Vampire. I want to be myself again... I want to turn back Time and just be myself again."

"But you can't. No one can change the past, no one can alter the path of Time...no one can change their Fate." Her hand touched the warm flesh of his shoulder and gently rubbed it in small comforting circles. "You are what you are."

"Desigur, and I will follow what it is in my nature to do... now that it has been awoken... I will have no choice. I can never go back to what I was."

"Nu. You cannot go back."

"Then I am 'Cel'... I am 'The One'... I am 'The Almighty Fang' and I am meant to lead and rule The Pure Blood's... so," Kaoru watched as his eyes flashed with a burst of emotion and suddenly he was all but growling in her face. "From now on, my foolish lubit, I want you to carry a gun with you when you go out prowling the streets or whatever it is you do. I do not want you to get caught unarmed and out-classed again like you did tonight, understood?"

"Slayers don't pack iron, Fly-boy!" She bit back mutinously meeting his angry glare with snapping blue eyes. "It just gets in the way."

"You will do as I say in this, my Mat..." He snarled angrily baring his fangs in the face of her stubbornness as his patience finally slipped. "In this and all things I deem of importance... And you will not defy me, 'nor' will you put yourself into that kind of danger again, I will not allow it! You belong to me, and I will not lose you... not now, not ever! Do you understand?" Blue eyes, gone wide at first with anger, then shock, now looked at him in confusion and frustration.

"How... what...why do you keep saying THAT?" She shouted at him as she tried to raise up off the couch but wincing in pain, she fell back gasping for breath. "How do you know I'm your Mat? Why do you keep calling me your 'Beloved'? I don't even know your fucking name!" Angry tears filled her eyes as she stared into his stunned features, and then in exasperation she looked away shutting him out and ending the conversation.

"You are right..." His voice was soft... quiet like a gentle breeze as his hands finished their work of patting the wound dry and then packing it. Tenderly he lifted her up into his arms and rested her against his chest and shoulder as he wrapped a heavy bandage around her waist to hold the packing tightly in place and prevent any more bleeding. "I haven't told you my name... I must admit, it never even occurred to me to tell you. I... I was so worried for you... All I could hear was your soul and your blood screaming in my head, and then we have been talking here and..."

"You... you heard me?" She interrupted him as she rubbed her cheek against the smooth skin of his shoulder where her tears had started to make a puddle beneath it there. "You heard my blood?"

"Desigur... the voice of your blood pulled me all the way back here from Manhattan Island to save you... I could taste your fear and your despair... and that was all I could think of... I had to reach you before they killed you... before... before I lost you forever." A quiet sob wrenched its way free from her throat and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck once more holding on as if she would never let go. "I was so afraid I would be too late..."

"But you weren't."

"I thank God for that... all would have been lost if I had lost you... my life, my world... our people... everything. The Universe would have crumbled around us all." He shuddered against her and buried his face in the creamy softness of her throat. "I would not have been able to live without you."

"Please... tell me your name?" She asked as she pulled back from him, and as he raised his head and gazed deeply into her emotional filled eyes, he smiled tenderly and laughed, a soft ironic sound that made her giggle.

"Kenshin, my brave lubit... my name is Kenshin." Her hand caressed his face as she leaned into him resting her forehead against his. In turn, he pushed his face against her palm increasing the pressure of her touch and closing his eyes in contented pleasure, he felt her other hand come to rest against his chest.

"Kenshin," She tested the name on her tongue and decided she liked it so she said it again. "Kenshin..." A rumbling purr of sorts vibrated deep within his chest and his arms gently tightened around her pulling her close to him. When she did not resist, he slowly opened his shining golden orbs and looked directly into her eyes communicating quite effectively what was on his mind. A soft breath of anticipation escaped her lips just before he inclined his head to the left and dipped down low to press a tender yet suggestive kiss into her parted lips.

"Now, my sweet Mat," He breathed against her mouth. "It is your turn."

"My t-turn?" Looking at him dumbly, all Kaoru could do was blink her eyes in confusion.

"My turn for what?" Kenshin let his thumb trace the line of her lower lip and watched with satisfaction as her eyes darkened to a deep midnight blue, but before he kissed her again there was something he wanted to know.

"Tell me your name, lubit." He murmured as he slid his lips into the smooth hollow of her throat and shoulder sending a current of violent trembling through her body as he did. "You know mine... now, tell me ," Her voice all but failed her as she felt the tip of his tongue stroking along her pulse point and her hands rose of their own will fisting into the thick flaming mane of his hair. "My name is... Kaoru."

"Kaoru," His hand was gently cupping the back of her head, the talons curling through the thick ebony tresses as he eased her back exposing her throat to his lips and tongue. The breath caught raggedly in her throat as he placed open-mouthed kisses over her heated flesh and began nipping lightly with his teeth sending little shivers of delight and desire through her. But when the needle sharp points of his fangs grazed across her carotid artery, Kaoru froze in his arms her eyes rolling back in her head as she waited for the inevitable.

She had never been bitten in her life, but had heard stories about it... about the ecstasy of the blood... of the bonding... but she never dreamed she might actually come to know it herself because none of the males she knew had ever been interested in mating with her, and she had grown lonely and convinced she would die alone. But now, here she was, on the brink of that ecstasy... on the brink of bonding with 'The One'... 'I'm 'The Source'!' Her eyes flew open in astonished disbelief at the sudden realization, and at the same moment, Kenshin sank his fangs deeply into her throat puncturing the main artery in one clean bite that left her gasping for air.

It was starting again, the intoxicating whirlwind of golden ecstasy that came with the blood, only this time... this time it was different... it was more. It was like being bathed in liquid light and the womb of the Mother all at the same time, and Kenshin felt his soul surging upward toward a heaven only the blood knew or could bring.

In the golden glow of the light of his life's energy, Kenshin saw the mystery of The Pure Blood's evolution as the blood flowed into his soul and brought with it the essence that was 'Kaoru'. She was glorious in her spiritual form as her wispy silver body floated into his mind and reached out to enfold him in tender arms of infinite love and eternal knowledge.

He could feel her... smooth skin, soft breasts, full sweet lips parted and moist beneath his as he massaged them with his own. Her body melted into his and he felt them joining together. Thrusting up against her, he buried himself deep inside feeling the world that was her close tightly around him holding him... cradling him... loving him... He could smell her... jasmine and honeysuckle... he inhaled deeply and a vision of psychedelic colors and rainbows exploded before his eyes. He felt dizzy and light headed.

He could taste her... sweet and tart... fresh and musky... intoxicating...nothing had ever tasted so wondrous to him, and he did not think he would ever get enough of her. He wanted more, much more.

He could hear her... the steady beat of her heart echoed in his mind until it became the sound of a hundred thundering drums inside of his skull forcing his own heart to match cadence and bring the chaos under control. The whisper of her breath was like a gentle sea breeze blowing through his hair and lifting all of his cares and worries away from his human choked soul freeing him so that he felt light as a feather, and suddenly he was flying upward... skyward... floating toward the stars.

As the ground fell away and the sky around him grew dark, Kenshin could feel himself drifting... drifting into a place where time became insignificant, and where the world looked smaller than a spec of dust in the wind. He was growing, growing... expanding and becoming... suddenly he could see the entire Universe within the eye of his mind, and he knew he could go there if he wished to, and he knew... everything... he knew the answers to every question he had ever wanted to ask, to every mystery he had never understood... and he could see the beginning and the end of the world and what would happen to her people if he failed in his task.

There would be sickness, plague, hunger, and every sort of misery imaginable should the 'Made' conquer and take control of the human population for themselves. The world would decay and soon disintegrate into nothingness leaving behind only death and the smell of stinking rotting flesh where once there had been life and promises for the future.

He saw his army standing strong, steadfast 500,000 or more ready to charge forward at his order to do battle and fight to the death in an effort to save the life of the living world... but were they enough? Was he enough? Was he Great enough to lead them to a Victory over a screaming Horde of two-hundred million?

He pulled away from Kaoru so suddenly that he nearly dropped her, and looking down into her pale serene face, Kenshin suddenly became afraid. Had he taken too much?

"Kaoru?" He lifted her head and cradled it against his shoulder where it lolled limply back and forth. "Kaoru?!" The note of desperation in his voice caught on a sob of terror as she remained unresponsive. "Noooo... Nooo... Noooo..." He cried and pulled her up close to his throat where he could feel his own pulse throbbing in fear. Swiftly and without thinking, Kenshin slashed open his own throat, and as the blood began to boil up out of the gapping wound, he pushed Kaoru's lax mouth over it trying to force her to drink from him. "Drink, Kaoru..." He whispered in agony as he cradled her limp body against his thundering heart. "Please... drink... don't leave me... not now... not like this... Oh God... Please, drink."

As despair began to seep into his bones, and thoughts of ripping out his own heart started to feel appealing Kenshin felt the woman in his arms stir ever so slightly. With a renewed vigor and blazing hope in his heart he once more pressed her mouth against the bleeding wound in his neck and this time, was rewarded when he felt her weakly latch onto his flesh.

"Yes, Lubit..." He whispered into her shoulder as he held her shivering body against his. "Stay with me, Kaoru... drink and stay with me." As the seconds passed, Kenshin felt the warmth seeping back into her body and the muscles beneath her skin were coming back to life. Strength from him flowed through her, and he gasped in shock when her hands rose to grip his shoulders giving her more leverage and allowing her to sink her fangs even deeper into the open vessel that poured such sweetness over her senses. A great moaning tore itself from his chest and he pulled them both onto the floor holding her above him and glorying in the life he felt coming back to her body.

To Kaoru she was sliding through a world of purest sensation feeling nothing but the man who held her so close. The beat of his heart was like the roaring of a great ocean in her ears, and the singing of his blood as it joined with hers was a melody of angels voices mixed with the crooning lullaby's of every mother who had ever held a babe to their breast. His blood was the Earth, the Heaven's, the Ocean, and the burning Volcano of passion which rose up to both consume and set her free. He was the beginning and the end... her soul... her life... He was her heart, and as his spiritual form drifted into her mind, Kaoru reached out with the arms of her soul and welcomed the magnificent shimmering golden creature that came and enfolded her into an embrace of everlasting love and devotion.

She could feel him... his skin, his touch, his lips... his body pressing into hers as if they were already joined in the lovers embrace.

She could smell him... ginger spice and male musk, and as she inhaled the scent that was him, she felt it descend and cover her like a blanket as he marked her as his own. Always would those scents bring him to her mind, and the smallest hint of each would follow her wherever she went speaking to all to whom she belonged.

She could taste him... salty... earthy... the taste of him made her tremble with need, and at long last, Kaoru knew what it meant to lust.

She could hear him... his heart beat matching cadence with hers... his breathing like a rushing wind in her head roaring his passion, his need, his desire... his love, and his voice. She could hear his voice, and it was beautiful like the song of a dove as it swirled around her heart and soul speaking to her of love and joy... of eternity and fate... of bonding.

Kaoru pulled back with a great sobbing cry and found herself lying on top of Kenshin's chest where the strength of his arms held her firm. The look on his face was pure ecstasy... pure pleasure... pure contentment, and when he opened his golden eyes and looked up at her, the smile that curved his beautiful mouth was the most glorious thing she had ever seen.

"We are not alone any more..." The voice that spoke to her no longer sounded the same as the voice she had heard coming from him before. This voice... this incredible voice was filled with the fullness and richness of the World, The Universe, and The Knowledge... It was the voice of 'The One' and Kaoru looked down at him in awe as a drop of his blood fell from her lip and splattered softly onto his naked chest. "We are together... always together."

"I can hear you," She breathed in astonishment as she gazed into his beautiful face. "I can hear you in my mind... can you hear me?"

"Of course, Little one... can you doubt that?" A nervous laugh escaped her and then she was squealing in surprise as he rolled her beneath and pinned her to the floor. Watching her closely, he waited for any sign of hesitation or discomfort, and when neither came, he moved down her body and gently lifted the bandage he had so recently placed over the gunshot wound in her right side. To his happy surprise, he found the wound was completely gone without even a blemish to mark its passing. "You heal well, little Mat." His smile turned decidedly rakish as he noticed where his face was, and with a feral sounding growl he buried his face between the firm rounded mounds of her breasts. The sound of his fangs snapping sharply together was heard and when he raised up, the skimpy piece of silk and lace that had been covering that soft tantalizing flesh broke in half and fell away spilling her breasts out before his heated gaze. "Beautiful." The moist heat of his husky voice raised gooseflesh on her tender skin, and Kaoru could hardly protest before he buried he face against her pale flesh.

Gasping deeply, Kaoru arched her back in response to his passionate touch, and her mate's firm yet gentle hands gripped her leather clad hips as he settled himself intimately against her, wringing a soft cry of passion from her trembling lips as the rigid length of his desire pressed into her softness.

"Ken...."

"Hmmmm..."

"Are... Are we..."

"Only if you want to..." His mouth trailed up over her collarbone and then the rounded curve of her shoulder as his hands slipped beneath her upper body and lifted her up to him. "I just want to feel you, Lubit... and taste you... we don't have to do anything else... unless you want to."

"D-do you... want to, I mean?"

"Of course... I'd be insane if I didn't." Rising up from her body, he looked down into her flushed face and smiled wickedly. "What man alive wouldn't want to make-love to a woman who looked like you, Kaoru?" Kenshin leaned down and tenderly traced her bottom lip with his tongue making her shiver. "I'd have to be dead or blind not to want you... and now that we are bonded... well, that just makes it all that much more interesting because I already sort of know how it will feel."

"I know..." She favored him with a shy and embarrassed look. "That was sort of... strange, wasn't it?"

"Nah... I liked it." He grinned and kissed her fully on the mouth making her smile and giggle beneath his lips.

"You would, you hentai... just like a guy to get off on the obvious."

"Right... and you didn't?" Just to prove his point Kenshin mused as he shifted meaningfully against her body. The resulting gasp brought a knowing chuckle out of him as he buried his face in her throat and began to nibble gently around the recent puncture wounds he had made. "Just what I thought... didn't affect you at all... right." In response to his sarcastic remark, Kaoru's hand rose and smacked him hard in the back of the head and he began to laugh out right. "Hey, what was that for?"

"For being such a... such a... such a wise-ass." She finally got out after several attempts and then burst into laughter at the blase' look on his face. "Well, you are you know."

"Of course I am... it's one of my best qualities, honey."

"Oh that's just great... I can't wait to find out the rest of them..."

"Trust me," He gave her another wicked smile. "You'll love them."

"Sure I will... sure I will.... shit!" And then with a shock screech, Kaoru found herself the victim of another one of Kenshin's impromptu romantic splurges... he depantsed her.

"Geez... how in the hell do you get in OR out of these damn things?" He asked in mock frustration as he finally succeeded in pealing the skin tight leather pants off her flailing legs and throwing them across the room. "Do you paint them on or what?"

"You RAT!!" She screamed as she aimed a right hook at his vulnerable nose. "I can't believe you just did that!" The right hook missed as Kenshin easily dodged it with his new found speed and reflexes.

"Hey... maybe I could get used to this 'vampire thing' after all." He laughed as he caught the flying blur of her fist in the palm of his hand. "I even saw that coming."

"Oooooooh, shut-up already." She fumed and started fighting trying to find a way to get up but found herself effectively pinned to the floor by his superior weight. "Will you let me up already."

"Nope." The smile on his face turned decidedly predatory and Kaoru felt the chill of becoming the hunted slithered up her spine.

"Why not?"

"Because, little lubit... I've got other plans in mind for you, and letting you up is not among them." His voice dropped an octave and as he lowered his head toward her mouth, Kaoru felt gooseflesh pop out all over her entire body. "I have a taste for something special just now... can you guess what it is?"

"I... ahh..." Suddenly she was stuttering and unsure of herself, and her usual never-fail bravado had deserted her. She was lying on the floor all but naked beneath the most handsome and desirable man she had ever seen in her life, and as it turned out, he was none other than 'Cel' and she was his 'Mate'. Could life get any stranger? "I don't know..." She finally managed to squeeze out of her suddenly dry throat.

"Oh, I think you do, Kaoru... Isn't it customary to offer a virgin to the new Ruling Faction as a show of good faith... or something like that?" He asked in a half amused voice while the other half was full of hunger and passion.

"Is... is it?"

"Um-hum... it is."

"Oh..." Her hands had started to caress the smooth flesh of his back even as her eyes deepened to a dark midnight blue. "I guess if that's what we have to do..."

"I hoped you would see it that way." Kenshin's voice was a hoarse growl as his mouth closed over hers and his tongue easily pushed its way past her teeth to claim the interior of her mouth as its prize. The ragged moan that rose muffled in her throat brought an answering shudder in his powerful body and his right hand slid down her side and lifted her knee up wrapping her leg around his waist.

"You're still wearing too many clothes, fly-boy." She murmured against his mouth as her hands found their way down to the waistband of his jeans and began tugging at it.

"Then do something about it, Kaoru..." His voice was deeper than she had ever heard it, and as he raised himself up on his elbows, she found she could easily unfasten the button and slip the zipper to his fly undone. "Don't stop there." The raspy plea was muttered against her throat as his lips stroked along the sensitive flesh, and in response, she hooked both thumbs beneath his garments and shoved them down over his narrow hips until she could push them no farther. His wriggling and kicking legs did the rest, and in only a brief moment he was very warm and very naked within shuddering embrace of his new beloved.

"Ken... Oh God..." She shuddered violently beneath him as passion built swiftly between them, and a hoarse gasp escaped Kenshin as Kaoru thrust her strong pink tongue between his teeth and began doing battle with his inside the heated cavity of his mouth.

"Dear God, Kaoru..." He grated out against her mouth as his fangs nipped at the fragile flesh of her lips and drawing the smallest taste of her blood onto his tongue. "I want... I... I can't stop... Oh Baby, I... I... I need...." The heavy weight of his nudged against her belly as he strained in need over her, and as he raised his body above hers, Kenshin's golden crystal's gazed with pure molten heat into Kaoru's smoldering sapphires. In them he saw reflected his own raw hunger and the answer to the question both his heart and body were asking. '_Can I...'_

_ 'Yes... I need too... Kenshin... I need you so much...' _The voice of her mind inside his head was breathless... timid, yet eager... frightened, yet excited.... he could almost taste her hunger for him, and that was the last barrier between them to be lowered... now their bonding could be completed. So with infinite gentleness, Kenshin slowly joined their bodies in the lovers embrace.

_ 'You know...'_

_'...it will hurt...'_

_'...just for a moment...'_

_'...do it quickly...'_

_'...and it will pass faster.' _Kenshin gathered Kaoru up into the strength of his arms and took her mouth in a deep, passionate kiss that soon had her moaning and moving beneath him.. It was time, he knew he could take her now and the pain would not matter.

Once more he felt the fangs inside of his mouth stretch and lengthen as his lips brushed across the fresh puncture wounds over her carotid artery, and without even a second thought, Kenshin slipped the needle sharp points back into the same wounds and felt the warmth of his mates blood coating his tongue again.

'Wondrous...' His mind spun wildly, and to his everlasting astonishment, Kenshin felt Kaoru's fangs pierce his throat in the same place as she had before as her passion led her to do the same thing he had... feed again... join hearts and souls again... share their spirits again. Mate. Bond. Fuse. And as their minds began to swirl within each others heads, they started sharing their thoughts as if they were talking out loud.

_'Astonishing... beautiful... magnificent... Kaoru... you are my Simpatie... my Indragostit... my Mat... I love you, Kaoru... I will love you always, my Lubit... alwaaaaays...'_

_'My Simpatie... My Mat... My Stapan... I will be yours forever... I will stay by your side always... I will love you always, My Stapan... My life is yous, always... alwaaays, Kenshiin...'_

The Blood knew what the Fate's had set aside for the future, and The Wheel of Time had rolled relentlessly along its pathway until the day of Destiny presented itself, and now as 'The One' and 'The Source' mated hearts, souls, and bodies, and bonded spirits, minds, and blood, The Prophecy was irrevocably set into motion.

The Fang of Pythagoras had risen and taken his mate, and as their blood, sex, and seed mingled, the vibrations of His enormous power emanated outward from him like massive rings in a pond of still water reaching far and wide and causing both blind panic and ecstatic joy as it touched the hearts, minds, and souls of those Vampires open to receive its transmission.

Far across the Atlantic Ocean high in an old granite tower located in the Moors of old England stood a tall thin man facing the east window of a tall turret. His lithe form was outlined by the shine of a near full moon and it was noted that he stood with both hands clasped behind his back; each wearing its own white cotton glove. The man, himself, was wearing black. Black slacks, black shoes, a black silk collarless shirt buttoned to the neck, and a long dress jacket with satin lapels. It was also black. Iron gray hair was combed back neatly except for four strands that refused to be tamed and they hung attractively over his forehead and into his eyes.

His face was lean and sharp, like a wolf... a hungry wolf, and the skin was a pasty, chalky white that showed the small intricacy of the tiny blue veins that networked just beneath the surface, and his mouth was thin lipped, yet handsomely curved. But his eyes were those of the inhuman and perhaps something unnatural for they glittered and shone with iridescent light despite the darkness. No one who knew him was able to meet the glaring yellow gaze for more than a few seconds at a time, and it was rumored among his business associates that he could read your mind if you let him look into your eyes for more than a minute.

He was not to be trusted.

He always got what he wanted... no matter who he had to go through, over, or under to get it.

He never took 'no' for an answer.

It was better to be his partner than his competition... or enemy. His competition frequently ended up dead... or just disappeared.

He rewarded his faithful well... and meted out justice and punishment without mercy, and frequently performed the task himself... personally.

He was ruthless... detestable... powerful and power hungry... domineering and dominating...

He was a murdering... he was a criminal... a drug dealer... the mafia and syndicate leader of one of the largest organizations in the World...

He was a businessman.

He was Vampire. He was an Ancient.

At one time he had been known as Gustav Uriel but that had been centuries ago when he had been a lowly soldier, a common thief, an useless assassin, and he had left that name behind long ago. Now he was a man of great importance. A man other men came to for assistance, or ran from in fear, and he owned almost half of Eruo-Aisa and those dumb-ass people didn't even know it. ...

Who was he now? He was Hajime Saitou, The Black Diamond... and inside of his ancient Vampire soul he could feel the thunderous energy surge rushing through the cosmos and exploding in the center of the Universe as 'Cel' was 'set free' from his human bonds and introduced to his awesome well of incredible powers as 'The One'.

"Fuck you..." Saitou muttered under his breath as he reached inside of his coats breast pocket and extracted a silver cigarette case. After selecting one cigarette and lighting it, he replaced the expensive case back inside of his coat and then took a deep drag off the smoke. "May your fucking soul rot in hell, Almighty Fang." He sneered as he rubbed a shaky thumb against his throbbing temple. "And may I be the one to send you there... en' garde' My Lord. May our swords soon cross and taste flesh and blood, and may I sever your head just as I did your pitiful King's 600 years ago." A cruel laugh crackled from between his thin lips as he pulled another deep drag off the cigarette and walked closer to the window so he could look out at the shining moon. "I will take your head, Great Fang, and I will mount it on a pike at Ellis Island for the Old Man and his whelp Prince to see... then they will truly know, I am the rightful Leader, and I will become... KING."

Hope Ya'll enjoyed... It was a beast to write. Please click the little link below and review. Thanks to you in advance... God Bless everybody. Ciao.... poof knt

_**XxSilentxDreamerxX:** __I saw your name today... In the round robin Belle asked me to participate in... I read your chapter and loved it. Now I gots to do mine... Never done a round robin before. Should be interesting. Anyway... Hope you liked this chappie. It's way edited from the original because of the 'lemon' factor and I don't want it to get 'bumped off' like so many others have. The original version is on but it is so hard to get on there these days. I hope you enjoyed none the less. God Bless. Hope to see you soon. Good writing by the way._

_**De Lazy Lime:** Well, don't you just show up in the strangest places... LOLOLOL. Sorry about the editing of the 'lemon factor', but you know how is about that sort of thing. I hope I got my point across. But then, you've already read this on haven't you??_

_**Psychotic catster:** Yes, Kaoru is the 'source', and yes, Kenshin is the 'demon'. You smart girl. HEHEHEHEHEHE. Hope you liked this chappie. Hope the 'limey' didn't hurt your widdo eyes. Take care sweetling. See you laters._

_**... :** To whom ever this is. Thanks. I'm not sure the word 'amazing' has been applied to me before. I appreciate it. God Bless._

_**Paisita: un chimba...** I like the sound of that. Has a very cool ring to it. Thanks._

_**MZ.AMbER.EYES:** __I don't know about a sequel. The story is just getting started. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens when I get finished. Sequels are so hard. I almost wish I had never written 'Beloved of The white Flame' after writing 'The White Warrior'. It has been a real head ache. And no one seems to like it very much. So, I don't know. I'm glad you like this though. Take care._

_**Kaorurles:**_ _Sorry it took me so long to update. I've been ill for about 2 weeks, and it just wasn't something I wanted to mess with becaues of all the editing I have to do. But I'm glad you like the story. Thanks. Hope to see you again._

_**Female Hitokiri Battousai:** Thanks Sta-chan. Glad you like it. It is something I have wanted to write for a long time. Hope I can finish it. Hope you liked this chapter. Much love, My little tenshi. Mom_

_**Nguardian:** Hey girl... thanks for the extra review. You're the greatest. And thanks for you concern. I am beginning to feel much better. God Bless. Tsuki_


	7. The Pangs of Reality

A/N: Vampire Explanations: _REACH:_ The ability of one Pure Blood to psychically find another in space and time. It is a much stronger link between blood relations, but the strongest bond is with Mates and the 'blood bond'.

_MADE VAMPIRE ALLERGIES: _Author's creation. Except for the Garlic cloves... though the reaction to the cloves is purely my creation. Pure Blood's are immune simply because they are living organisms.

_CARDIAC ANATOMY: _The human heart is made up of 4 chambers. 2 atria (the top), and 2 ventricle (the bottom). The left ventricle is the power pump that sends the blood out through the aorta and into the main bloodstream body. The right atria receives the blood from the superior and inferior vena cava (the venous collection system for the body)... drops it into the right atria which, in turn lets it down into the right ventricle through the tricuspid valve. Then the ventricle sends it to the lungs for oxygenation via the semi-lunar valve. It comes back to the heart via the pulmonary vein (the only time a vein ever carries oxygenated blood) and is emptied into the left atria. Then its down into the power pump via the bicuspid or mitral valve and off to the body with a mighty shove... Very efficient system... God was a master architect.. But when something goes wrong with one or more of these chambers... it is very hard to fix or compensate, and death is usually eminent.  
  
Chapter Seven

The Pains of Reality

Ellis Island/Underground Complex

The Black Lands

April 2004

Monday morning...

05:22 a.m.: Before Sunrise...

Characters:

Kaoru Kamiya

Soujro Seta Kamiya

Hijo Seijuro

Aoshi Shinomori

Magdelana Kamiya Seijuro

Even though it was spring there was still dew collecting on the fragile green shrubbery that lay scattered and unattended across the small deserted island that had once been the gateway to the Land of The Free and the Home of Hope and Fortune. The old derelict brick building that had been the processing center had begun to wither away beneath the battery of time and the elements as the world moved past it and life continued on without looking back. Weeds and grasses sprouted up through cracks in the weakened floors, and piles of dust that had once been the mortar between the faded red bricks dotted the grounds and hallways. It was no longer safe to walk about the upper levels as so much of the wooden flooring had been eaten by termites and rotted away by the rain. The once white paint on the walls had long since chipped away and lay curled up in little pieces of decay along the floors, and rat droppings and urine stains seemed more prevalent than any remaining varnish or lacquer.

It was a tomb of long forgotten ghosts and as the wind off Manhattan Bay swept through the broken windows, the mutters and cries of emigrants long past could almost be heard as they struggled to find their way through the maze of doctors, nurses, registration desks, and interpreters. How many had given up their names in favor of something that could be more easily pronounced or accepted instead of that which they had brought with them from a country so much older than this one that promised so much but seemed to offer so little. Tears were shed as grief replaced hope, and many sat for long weeks staring across the waters at the coast of a land that was denied them until they were 'deemed' acceptable to sail to Her shores.

Names... names of the forgotten... names of those who would never hear them uttered again were carved deeply into the wooden posts and pillars of the old tomb. Russian... Jewish... Polish... Hungarian... Scandinavian... German... Austrian... Bulgarian... so many names. So many lives that were sent into New York forever changed... forever marked... forever crushed.

To some it was a place to begin life again after the Holocaust. To others, it was just another place to be punished for being a race and a religion different from those who had already passed before. It remained a place for persecution not hope. Many died there and never did live to see the shores of the land of freedom. It was their last prison.

It was in this place that Hiko Seijiro and Prince Crede had brought their group of Pure Bloods 10 years ago after their last compound in New Jersey had been destroyed by a vicious garrison of 'Made'. The compound had been a perfect cover, the basement already in existence when they arrived. All they had had to do at that point was expand and renovate to ensure strength and privacy.

The electrical system was revitalized by tapping into the main cities power grid. This was achieved through a major connection into the underwater mains that stretched across the bay toward The Statue of Liberty. No one ever bothered to check the underwater lines unless something went wrong with them... and it was so much easier just to make sure that never happened than it was to deal with a human electrical diving crew. So, the Pure Bloods learned how to become electrical engineers as well as deep water divers... at least a crew of them did, and that was their sole purpose. To keep the electricity working and the cities core of engineers out of Hiko and the Prince's hair.

The structure itself was left alone save the underground level which became eleven levels. Working by night, the Pure Bloods excavated ten more full sized levels beneath the basement of the original building and built themselves a sturdy complex of steel and concrete which housed their population of some 3,023, a full medical facility, a school and library, living quarters, a training center, and the Holy Archive's complete with one full level of the written word in scrolls and old leather bound books, and one level of computers and software programs to study them with.

The entrance to the underground complex was well hidden and more than a little difficult to find, and although the 'Made' knew the Pure Bloods was located on the old island, they had yet to discover the key to getting inside. The perimeter around the old building was a vampires nightmare, and no 'Made' had ever survived to even tell the tale of his experience in trying to find the entrance to the compound. It had been over six years since a 'Made' had been found on the premises. So, it would seem they had finally wised up and realized they were not going to make it inside... no matter how hard they tried or how careful they were.

It was not going to happen.

'Made' vampires were severely allergic to three things all of which were a naturally occurring organic life form. One was rose's. The sweet aromatic scent of roses of any sort would render a 'Made' vampire helpless within only moments of coming in contact with it. Acting like a deadly nerve gas, it would quickly degrade the vampire's central nervous system, and the being would either suffocate from the inability to functionally process the blood inside of the body, or they would die a horribly painful death as his or her brain exploded inside of the nearly indestructible skull causing massive amounts of blood and tissue matter to ooze from the ears and nose. Either way, their demise was certain.

Two, sea salt. The Pure Bloods would gather buckets and buckets of sea water and leave them out for the sun to evaporate, and the powdery residue left over would be carefully collected and rubbed into black cotton sheets which would in turn be hung in strategic intervals all over the grounds every night... especially during the winter. Many a 'Made' had their demise wrapped inside one of these soft death-traps as the salt powder burned their flesh away and then dissolved their inner organs. Also, a few of these sheets soaked in a highly concentrated solution of sea-salt water would do the same thing, only much faster, but they could not be used in winter, they froze and became useless. However, buckets of the solution could be propped in high places and tied to trip-wires that would cause them to douse the unsuspecting with the deadly liquid when stumbled upon. Indeed, sea salt had proved itself to be most useful as well as versatile.

Third was garlic. Pure garden grown garlic cloves pealed and hung in garlands from the trees, bushes, and the building itself had proved to be most useful as a long-term deterrent. Since it was quite simple to grow and store the smelly cloves for long periods of time, it was not difficult for the Pure Bloods to keep a large of stock of them on had at all times, and since a 'Made's' olfactory senses were among the keenest (only out matched by a Pure Blood's) it was and easy reach for them to detect the presence of the deadly cloves even from a distance.

Where the scent of the roses would do deadly damage to their nervous systems, the garlic directly attacked their blood causing it to become first a thickened substance within their veins, and then something close to cement. It was a very painful if not hasty way to die as one's body turned to stone and the breath froze inside of lungs turned to lead.

It did make them sink to the bottom of the bay much faster though. Otherwise, the bodies had to be disintegrated with the heavy salt substance in order to hide it from any visitors to the island. Just as all the garlands had to be removed before dawn...just before dawn, and that was probably the only time the Pure Bloods were vulnerable. Fortunately for them, the 'Made' had not appeared to have figured that very important detail out yet. And it was at just that precise moment in time that Kaoru appeared out of the early morning mist materializing like a ghost from no where and nearly scaring the life from the members of the Clan who were gathering up the garlands.

"Hey!" Aoshi Shinomori exclaimed in a low growl as he swung around with his short kodachi raised defensively over his head. "You need to be more careful the way you sneak up on people, Slayer. It's a good thing I recognized you despite the mist or I might have relieved you of your head."

"Not hardly...Major." She haughtily tossed back as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and offered his a hard look. "You would have to get up a lot earlier in the morning than this before you'd get one over on me."

"You think too much of yourself, Slayer." His glare became disapproving as he sheathed his weapon and relaxed his stance. "Your arrogance is misplaced... and unappreciated."

"It is not misplaced, Major Shinomori." She replied in a cold tone and she walked up closer to him. "And for once... it's not arrogance." Aoshi opened his mouth to give her a sharp retort but found himself stopping as the whiff of a strange scent shifted through the air off of her and drifted over to him.

"What the... who...?" Rearing back in surprise and half in alarm, Aoshi let his icy green eyes flare open and afford her a look of complete shock. "Where the fuck have you been?" He demanded in a gruff voice. "And _who _the hell have you been with?"

"Why do you ask?" Kaoru let her face lapse into a look of total blankness as she took in his reaction to the subtle scent that still clung to her clothes, and wondered what would happen when he finally smelled the even lessor one that marked her as bonded... and mated?

"You... the smell of you... where have you been, Kaoru?"

"In the city, Major... patrolling. Where else would I be." The voice that slipped from her mouth was smooth as silk and Kaoru felt a swell of pride within her as she watched the look of surprise and hesitation that crossed the other Slayer's face. He was her superior... even if she was the better warrior. Still, Aoshi was not one to be trifled with and she knew she had pushed him just about as far as she dared. "We need to be getting inside, Sir. The sun will be rising..."

"I know that..." He eyed her suspiciously before he turned back to his gapping crew and made the signal for them to make haste with their task. "Come on everyone... we need to get this done and get inside before we are all ash spots in the sun." A round of 'yes sir's' was heard collectively and the twenty or so people doubled their efforts to retrieve the hanging garlands while the two slayers watched them in silence.

"Your Father is not going to be any more satisfied with your explanation than I am, Slayer." Aoshi's quiet words fell on Kaoru's sensitive ears as he turned and made his way to the hidden entrance of the compound. "He will require much more detail... you know that? Don't you?"

"Of course... but explanations can wait until then, Major. Now is not the time..." Aoshi shot her an angry yet respectful glance over his shoulder as he reached out and grasped the back of one of the iron backed benches and tipped it backward on its back legs. A low whirring noise could be heard beneath the ground and a rough vibration rumbled under their feet. Approximately fifteen feet away a six foot square section of the grassy covered ground lifted perhaps eighteen inches above the level and then slid sideways on some kind of an intricate hydrolics system made of pulleys and heavy cog-wheels. It revealed a downward sloping ramp that disappeared into the darkness of the earth some twenty feet before it could no longer be discernable.

"As you will then." Aoshi replied as they walked into the darkness waiting at the unseen bottom of the ramp. "I only hope your explanation is worth the hearing."

"Why do you say that, Major?" Kaoru cast a hooded anxious glance at her companion as they entered the large room at the bottom of the ramp.

"Because when you did not come back last night, he sent four others out looking for you... none of them have returned." A small gasp of surprise greeted his statement and caused him to look at her in confusion. This was very out of character for this usually cold hearted and emotionless girl, and the flash of guilt and contrition he caught on her face did nothing to alleviate the ambivalent feelings he was experiencing with her this strangest of mornings.

"What is it, Kaoru?" He asked in a quiet almost hushed voice. "Why are you so... shocked?"

"Who... who did he send, Major? Who went... who hasn't come back?" Now Aoshi was certain something was amiss. Kaoru didn't give a damn about any of the other slayers... unless they stepped on her toes... or into her domain. Something was wrong.

"Stephan, Jules, Angel, and Cody... why do you ask?" He watched her very close for her reaction and was further astounded when he saw tears gathering in her deep blue eyes.

"Stephan... Jules... Angel... Cody... Angel just barely finished her training. She wasn't ready for patrolling yet... she wasn't ready to go outside the safety zone... why? Why did he send her?"_'No... God, no... too late... too late...I'm not the best... I'm not... not... I'm an arrogant screw up... not worth your sacrifices... nonononononono!'_ The voice was no longer smooth and silky, instead it was tight and filled with pain. Pain and perhaps even anger, and the face that turned and looked into Aoshi's was no longer placid and emotionless. It was filled with anguish and guilt... regret and... remorse?

"She volunteered when the call came... they all did."

"Volunteered...? Why?" _'Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease... noooooo... don't let it be true... not this... not now... not before I could tell everyone... not before I could make up to everyone for what I've been... noooo!'_

"Because, you're the finest Slayer we have... you're the best, Kaoru." Aoshi reached out and put his hand on her shoulder as it drooped beneath the load of her despair. "No one... not even those you have scorned, want to see you lost to us. We need you too damn much to lose you."

"Oh God... nooooo.... please... no. I don't want them to have died for me... not for me." _'Not for me... not me... not me... noot meeee!' _And as she began to cry, Aoshi finally came to the realization that Kaoru was no longer the 'Kaoru' he had known for the last 600 years... not even the last 200 years... or even the last 3 days. She was... changed. Putting his arms around her trembling body, he pulled her unresisting against his chest... this too assured him of the magnitude of the change that had occurred within her. It also brought another fact into his perspective... though it was barely perceptible.

She was mated. The scent was unmistakable... yet... the power within its aroma made his head swim and Aoshi felt a wave of dizziness wash over him turning his stomach over in a lurch. _'Who... or what...?' _He couldn't even begin to fathom what kind of 'man' or 'beast' could have touched her and effected her heart and soul in such a tremendously altering manner, nor could he imagine anything powerful enough to leave behind such a marking scent as this one. _'What happened to you, Kaoru? What have you done?'_

"Come," He said quietly to her as he began leading her towards the elevator. "We must get you to your Father..."

"Papa?" _'Papa... what can I tell you... what do I say... how do I apologize for a life of arrogance and selfishness to the greatest man I ever knew... how? How, Papa? How do I tell you that I finally know what a terrible, horrible person I was? How do I admit that to YOU? How?' _She sounded like a little girl, and for some reason it made him wince.

"Yes... to your Papa... come on. Everything will be all right." The great steel doors closed and the sounds of the motor lowering them into the rest of the compound could be heard outside of the metal box they stood inside of. "Almost there..." He said as he hugged her tightly to his side forcing her to stand up straight. "Have courage."

"I always have courage, Major... I just... I... I have never had anyone risk their life for me... I do not like the feeling." _'I have always had courage... until now. It has deserted me today... in the face of my greatest need... it has deserted me...' _She stepped out of the elevator without his assistance and pulled her shoulders back as what looked like a thousand-thousand eyes turned to look at her. A low murmuring sound began within the living quarters level as she and Aoshi passed through, and Kaoru had never known a more uncomfortable moment in her life. She felt like a goldfish in a bowl and it was not a pleasant feeling.

It took several long moments before they reached her parents living quarters, and Kaoru hesitated before knocking twice in her usual sharp manner and then walked inside. She was greeted by the wide eyed gapping faces of her Mother, Brother, and Step-father.

"You... you're alive?" Soujiro was the first to be able to speak and move and he was up off the plush cushioned couch to crush her in his powerful arms before she could answer. "Kao... Kao... praise God... you're alive... Oh lubit... we thought we had lost you when you didn't come home... and I... I couldn't _reach _you anywhere..." Kaoru could feel the wetness of her brother's tears as they cascaded down her neck and as she began to tremble within his crushing embrace, she lifted her arms and wrapped them tightly around his body.

"I... I'm sorry, Sou... so sorry..." She choked out. "I didn't mean to worry..." _'God... if you can hear me.... HELP ME!' _

"You what?" He reared back in shock as her heart felt apology sank into his stunned brain. "You're... sorry?" Kaoru 'sorry' just didn't happen. Something was wrong, but before he could say more their mother had pulled her away and enfolded her trembling body into the warmth of yet another embrace.

"Oh my baby... my little girl... you're all right... you're all right..." Maggie crooned and cried all at once as she stroked her hand down Kaoru's long ebony hair and hugged her close to her thundering heart. "I thought you were gone from me, precious one... None of us could _reach _you... it was as if your blood had drawn its last breath... and you were gone. I swore I felt you die... Oh Kaoru... my Kaoru..."

"Mama... I'm alive... feel me, Mama... I'm alive." Kaoru hugged her Mother with all her might and let her own tears fall and become lost in the darkness of her mother's long hair as she buried her face in it's warmth. _'Home... I made it home... I can make up for the past... for what I used to be... I promise I will never be arrogant or selfish again... I promise... promise... I learned my lesson... I promise... never forget what's important again... never... never... nev..' _"I... love you..." And the entire room became deathly quiet.

As Maggie pulled away, her eyes, which were the same deep sapphire blue as her daughters, widened into huge pools of stunned disbelief as they locked gazes with their tear filled twins. Both women's faces were pale beyond the usual white of their normal skin tones, and Maggie looked as if she may yet faint dead away as she stared at her daughters forlorn expression.

"Wh...what did you say?" She stuttered in a ragged voice as her hands bit painfully into Kaoru's upper arms. "Did you just say you 'loved' me? Kaoru?" The tears that had been swimming in the usually fierce Slayer's eyes now surged forward and spilled over her porcelain cheeks running in rivulets down her face.

"Yes, Mama." She whispered heavily. "I said... I love you." Kaoru bowed her head and let the sobs come. "I know I h-have never said those words... at l-least not for m-many years, but it is t-true... I love you all... everyone... all of y-you." A wordless cry escaped Maggie's tight throat and then she was once more enfolding the daughter she thought she had lost into the haven of her strong arms pulling her close to the softness of her mother's bosom and the wild racing of her joyous heart.

"So long..." She breathed through her own tears. "So long have I waited to hear those words come out of your beautiful mouth again.... so very very long."

"Too long." Hiko stepped over to his beloved wife and daughter and wrapped his arms around them both pulling them close to the great expanse of his hard muscular chest. "Too long have we waited, Daughter... too long."

"Papa..." Kaoru's voice was tiny... tiny as the sounds of a mouse scurrying across a marble floor. "Forgive me... Papa... forgive me..."

"Forgive you?" Hiko looked down into the imploring blue eyes of his adopted daughter in confusion. "We have forgiven you, Daughter... love allows forgiveness of all things... forgive yourself, Kaoru... put your heart to rest."

"I... I cannot." She pulled away from her parents embrace and sat herself upon the couch. "What of Stephan... Jules... Cody... and Angel? How do I forgive myself for what has happened to them?" As a sob broke on her last word, Kaoru buried her face in her hands. "How can I ever... forgive myself... for that?"

"For what? For them doing what they thought was right? For them doing what they thought_you_would have done if it were one of _them? _For doing what _you have done _so many times in the past? For doing what it is within each Slayer to do for those that they fight with whether it is side by side in the night or not?" Kaoru raised her teary eyes and looked into Hiko's stern yet gentle face. "There is nothing to forgive... and, they may yet return tonight... and you, above all others being the Slayer that you are, should know that."

"Desigur, Papa... I should, but no one has _ever _had to come looking for ME before... ever!"

"Nu... this is a true fact... but you have _NEVER _disappeared from our _reach _before either." His dark emerald gaze narrowed suddenly as if that was the first time he had considered that fact since she had appeared unannounced through their door. "Where did you go?"

"I... ahhh..." Suddenly Kaoru looked extremely uncomfortable and even more unsure of herself than anyone had ever seen her. Hiko and Maggie exchanged worried looks.

"What is wrong, Kaoru? Why does that question bother you?" Hiko advanced on her and watched in astonishment as she scooted away from him somewhat. "Where have you been... What is going on here? Why are you so nervous..." And then, as her anxiety mounted, Hiko detected the change in her usual scent... the shift in the resonance of her heart-beat... the undertone of power that emanated off of her was... astonishing. _"What the hell...?" _His eyes grew into massive green spheres of amazement as he raked her flushed face with knowing eyes.

"You're mated..." The statement was all but shouted out of his mouth as he stepped over to tower over her rigid form. "You've been blood bonded to a Male." Maggie gasped and covered her mouth in shock as her huge blue eyes darted to the stiff backed frame of her daughter, and Soujiro could do nothing but stand and stare at her with wounded blue-gray eyes.

"Mated?" He whispered in disbelief. "Bonded? To whom? How... without us knowing... how... how could you?"

"If I may..." Aoshi's calm voice interjected itself into the stunned circle of the family unit as he noticed how Kaoru seemed to be becoming the target of an all out assault of negative accusations. "I also noticed the scent before I brought her home, General Seijuro."

"You did?" Hiko's dark eyes flew to his young subordinate as if he were just now noticing that the younger vampire was in the room with his family. "And you did nothing? You asked her nothing?"

"I asked... the same questions. Where? Who? But she was adamant that she would tell no one until she was here with you, Sir, and I respected that." Aoshi walked slowly over to his angry superior who was acting more the Father than the Leader at the moment, and carefully laid his hand on the heavily muscled arm. "There have been many... alterations in Kaoru since we last... saw her. Alterations that have both confused me and... relieved me. Perhaps you should allow her to explain before you condemn her, Sir. I would."

"_YOU WOULD?_" Hiko roared as he shook off the hand that touched him. "She is not your child, Major."

"No, she is not, General Seijuro." The admonishment was given in a cool controlled tone that pulled the older man's anger in check with an icy whiplash. "But, she is one of _MY_ Slayers... and by your own laws, I have the right to question her BEFORE you do... I respected her request and brought her home... I expect you, AS HER FATHER, to respect that position or I shall be forced to remand her back to the barracks for debriefing. Is that understood... Sir?" Hiko was speechless. It was true. His own laws gave the Leader of the Slayers the right to debrief Kaoru before ever giving her leave to go home whether her father was the Commander and Chief or not... he was still just her father, and he was abusing a very delicate privilege at the moment.A privilege _he _had designed by law himself.

"Yes, Major Shinomori... I understand, Thank you for reminding me."

"You are welcome, Sir." Once more Aoshi stepped back and removed himself from the family unit although he remained inside the living quarters. Kaoru was still _his Slayer._

Hiko drew in a slow deep breath and tried to calm his nerves and his temper, and at the same time he allowed his senses to _reach _out and touch that essence of _'Male' _that now surrounded his daughter. As an ancient, his concentration was at a level of such keenness that Hiko was ill prepared for the jolt of power that slammed into him as he _touched _Kaoru.

It was common for 'Male' vampires to create a shield of their scent and personal essence around their chosen 'Female' in order to prevent another 'Male' from trying to claim her as his 'Mate', and it was a common result for any 'Male' who tried to break through that 'shield' to suffer some mental and physical discomfort as his foreign essence was immediately repelled by the 'Female's' existing shield. Usually there would be some nausea, some burning in the hands and chest, and perhaps even a headache, but what occurred when Hiko _touched _Kaoru's 'shield' had never happened before in recorded Pure Blood history.

A mighty roar of excruciating pain split the air in the room just as the large man was lifted from the floor, cross-style, and forcibly thrown across the room slamming hard into the wall nearly twenty feet away with a sickening thud that resonated through several of the other living quarters both above and below them. He hung in silence for several seconds, as if suspended in time and space, before sliding to the floor and crumpling into an undignified heap of arms and legs.

"HIKO!" Maggie screamed his name in fright and sprinted across the room with Soujiro and Aoshi on her heels. Loud groans and muttered curses filtered through the jumbled of limbs as they reached the fallen giant, and when they turned him over, his eyes were glazed and out of focus.

"What... what the hell ha-happened?" He tried to raise a hand to his head but all of his limbs felt like they were made out of lead. "I feel like I got hit by a bus... or maybe ten buses... dammit!" Trying to shake his head was like trying to shake a balloon full of water... it just couldn't be done, and the harder he tried the more the world spun around him. "Shit... I think the moon came down and bitch slapped my ass... I swear I saw it in my head... the whole fucking moon... just swooped down and hit me head on like an ocean... the biggest wave I ever saw... thought I was going to die... shit shit... I'm not dead am I? Maggie?" Dazed green eyes began searching for the beautiful features of his beloved, and a relieved smile curved his thin lips when he found it at last.

"Nu... Hiko. You aren't dead... If you were, I'd never forgive you." She smiled wanly and stroked the thick white hair back off his forehead. "But what do you mean... The moon hit you?" She traded confused looks with the two men kneeling with her, and then they all turned and looked at the young vampire female who was standing ever so calmly looking at them from the side of the couch. "Kaoru... what... What is going on? What did your Father see the Moon... and why did it almost kill him for _touching _you?"

"Just exactly _whom _did you mate with, sister-dear? _The Devil?'_ Soujiro's eyes narrowed angrily as he stood up and faced his sibling. "What man on this earth has the kind of power to bring down the moon itself to protect his mate?" He approached her menacingly his fists clenched at his sides as he considered her calm demeanor. "Are we _all _danger now, Kaoru? Are we? What the fuck have you done? What have you brought among us? What?" His screamed at her and lunged reaching for her upper arm intent upon shaking her until she answered, but he never got close enough.

Once more the great hand of Cel's protection reached out from around Kaoru's body and stuck against that which it perceived as a threat, only this time it was not the threat of another 'Male', it was a threat to her safety... that was much worse.

A second scream filled the room that morning as the unseen hand of The Fang reached out and slammed into the chest of the advancing Soujiro sending him careening back into the waiting arms of a suddenly aware Aoshi. "STOP!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he lowered an unconscious Sou to the floor. "STOP, FOR THE LOVE OF 'THE ONE'... STOP!" And as swiftly as the assaulting presence had come... it was gone.

Looking down at the younger man whose head he held pillowed in his lap, Aoshi saw the shadow of death passing over the fine boned features. "KAORU!" He shouted in terror and entreaty... "HELP HIM... HE'S DYING... HE'S YOUR BROTHER AND HE'S DYING BECAUSE HE THREATENED _YOU_... HELP HIM... HELP HIM!"

She rushed to their side and fell to her knees on the floor and looked with terrified eyes upon the ashen face of her only brother. "I... I don't know... I don't...." She looked up frantically and met Aoshi's anxious eyes. "I...."

"Yes you do... You have too... YOU HAVE TOO..."

"I CAN'T!" She cried in horror and helplessness.

"YOU CAN!" He shouted back grabbing her by the arm and forcing her to look at him.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO..." Tears streamed down her face as she stared into his hard unforgiving icy green eyes.

"YES YOU DO... YOU HAVE THE POWER... USE IT DAMMIT, OR HE'S GOING TO DIE!_USE IT!"_ A great cry of grief rose up from her chest and she threw her head back exposing the two puncture wounds on the right side of her neck which had begun to bleed in small trickles. The blood was slithering down her throat and onto her chest making twin red rivers leading to the deep valley between her breasts where it disappeared into the tight cleavage.

"Soouujirrroo..." Kaoru sobbed in a horrible hollow otherworldly voice that seemed to come from somewhere deep within her, and as she leaned over him and looked down upon his failing visage bloody tears began to escape the anguished pools of her eyes.

"Bloody tears...?" Maggie breathed in a voice of horrified distress as she pulled Hiko's head closer to her breasts in fear. "I've never seen..."

"Nor I... Lubit... nor I."

"What is happening, Hiko?"

"I do not know, lubit. I do not know."

"What did Aoshi mean... 'For the Love of The One'?"

"I do not know the answer to that either, Maggie... but I do know he is trying to save our son... by the light of the Gods... he thinks Kaoru can save her brother's life."

"Do... do you?" A sob choked her words as she considered the implications of losing her only son to such an untimely death.

"I... Gods truth... I do not know what I believe anymore..."

Across the room Kaoru reached out a violently trembling hand and placed it on her brothers all but still chest and closed her eyes. In her mind's eyes she could see his heart. It was fluttering valiantly against the pull of death, but it was losing the battle and would soon stop completely taking his life with it as it did. The damage was clear... the entire right side was crushed leaving the blood no where to go but out into his body, and slowly he was bleeding to death within himself as the left ventricle struggled to continue pumping even as it ran out of fluids to pump. He would die... it was inevitable... it was unavoidable... it was undeniable.

_'NO!' _Her mind screamed and her hand lunged downward onto her brothers damaged chest ferociously nearly caving it in as she made contact with the ravaged heart. _'LIVE! LIVE SOUJIRO! LIVE!' _And Kaoru began to will that which was living to redeem itself... reunite itself... remake itself. She willed the heart to mend that which was destroyed beyond repair... willed it to reform the valves that had been mangled, the septum that was torn asunder, the muscle and arteries that were mutilated...

"Do you see it, Hiko... do you see it, the light... the white light coming from her hand... do you see it?" Maggie was transfixed by the scene unfolding before her as she watched the one who had been her daughter leaning over the body of her grievously wounded son. One hand had been pushed into the center of his chest and it was now glowing an eerie silver white which seemed to pulsate quite possibly with the beat of a heart... but whose? Kaoru's or Soujiro's? "What is she doing? Do you think...."

"Healing him, Maggie... I think she is healing his wounds." Hiko's words were hushed and almost reverent as he watched with childlike awe the spectacle before him. _'What am I seeing?' _His mind asked as he allowed his gaze to shift from daughter to son and back again. _'What miracle is this... and how can it be? My own daughter? Who... who is she? Who is this 'Male' she has mated and where did this power come from? All of this astonishing power...' _Suddenly his mind froze as if incased in a glacier... Could it be? Now, after all this time? Was it possible? Now? Darting eyes once more searched the pale face of his daughter and his nostrils tentatively tested the air for the scent he had detected before... The Power... so elusive... so subtle... yet so overpowering and... familiar? _'Master Crede? Do I detect a sense of you...? Do I... Is this... has my child become the Mate to... is he here?' _"Cel... by all that is Holy in this world... 'Cel'..."

A/N: I know... another cliffy. So sorry. It was getting long, and I know how you guys detest long chapters. Hang tight... updates are in the works.

Please drop me some reviews. I am not getting very many and it is really bumming me out... It sure doesn't make me want to update... I'll tell you that. In fact... it sort of makes me want to trash the fic and start over with something else... sighs Knt


	8. Body of Evidence

A/N: Just to Clarify a few things...

_Vampire's..._

Edo Gallion, Master of The Horse=Seijuro Hiko, General of The Slayers inside the colony of the Black Lands (Ellis Island Compound) and chief combat instructor, Retainer to Prince Crede and Step-Father to Kaoru and Soujiro. Married Magdelena Kamiya after the Revolution.

Prince Crede Corban=Kenshin's Grandfather, Last surviving member of the Ruling Faction of Royal Pure Bloods, youngest son of Nadia and Maxmillion Corban. OC

Kenshin Himura=Homicide Detective (NYPD)Rank-Captain, The One/'Cel', The Fang of Pythagoras, Great Grandson of Maxmillion Corban the last ruling King of the Vampire's (Murdered by Gustav Uriel)

Gustav Uriel=Hajime Saitou, The Black Diamond (Leader of the Made)

Kaoru Kamiya=The Source (Mate of The One), Slayer-Final Level

Soujiro Seta Kamiya=The Keeper (of the Records/Archives)

Magdelana _Kamiya_=Mother to Kaoru and Soujiro. Wife to Hiko. OC

Aoshi Shinomori=Major, Leader of the Slayers. Second in command after Hiko Seijuro. Slayer-Final Level

Misao Machimaki=Slayer-Fourth Level (Lieutenant, Leader of China Towne Group)

Mara Rostovich=Slayer-Fourth Level (Attached to China Towne Group) OC

_Slayers_=First Level is beginner, Second-Forth Level is a learning Apprentice, Fifth and Final Level is Master.

_Human's..._

Sanosuke Sagara=Homicide Detective (NYPD), Kenshin's partner

Megumi Takani=Coroner

Many of the Main Ancient's changed their names when they passed from one century to another... their reasons for doing this were for protection. To keep themselves hidden from their enemies. Of course, many of their names did become known to one another over the years, but not every plan is fool proof, that is why warriors and soldiers are needed and must be trained... and retrained constantly.

Reviewer responses at the end of the chapter....

Glossary: Simpatie=Love, Indragostit=Lover, Nevasta=Lady Wife, Tovaras=Friend,

Chapter Eight

A Body of Evidence

He had woken with her wrapped tightly in his arms that morning, and although it was still dark outside the window of his room, he knew she needed to leave soon. Soon... before the dawn came and trapped her inside of his apartment for the rest of the day.

It had been one of the most difficult things he had ever done in his life, kissing her good-bye and letting her leave. He had wanted to reach out and pull her back and hold her to him forever never letting her go, but that was not reasonable and he knew it. Still, as the elevator doors closed taking her out of his reach for the day, Kenshin thought the pain in his heart would rise up and crush him.

"She will be back..." He kept telling himself as he stepped into the warmth of the shower and let the steam and the water ease the deep ache that was suddenly appearing within the muscles of his back and upper body. "She will be back... soon. She promised you she would." Reaching out to the side of him, he grabbed a terrycloth and filled it with soap and began washing his body. A wry smile curved his lips as he remembered the surprised look in her eyes when she had looked upon his full human form for the first time.

"You... you have purple eyes, Kenshin." Raising up on his well-muscled chest, she looked down at him incredulous. "I... I didn't know. I thought..."

"You thought they were gold and glowing like that all the time? Nu?" A rich chuckled caused a dark blush to color her fair cheeks and she favored him with a shy smile.

"I guess I never thought about it."

"Well... I can't be 'Vamped' out all the time... at least not like that." His now talon free hand lifted and brushed her long ebony locks out of her lovely face. "I am half human you know, and a 'Day Walker' too." Graceful black eyebrows knitted together as she grasped his hand and looked at its very human appearance.

"A 'Day Walker'?" Her dark blue eyes searched his face in confusion. "You're half human? You aren't a full 'Pure Blood'? How is that possible? I mean, if you are 'The One', shouldn't you be the purest of us all?"

"Don't ask me, Kaoru." Kenshin replied blandly as he brought her hand to his lips and pressed a tender kiss against her fingers. "I just found out that I'm the great-grandson of the last King of the Vampire's and that my kindly old Grandfather is none other than the last surviving member of the same Royal Family... and I thought that whole story of the Revolution and the coming of 'The One' was just a really cool legend that I read in a very old book when I was a whole lot younger than I am now... so, if you got any better answers than ones I already have... I'm all ears, Honey."

"Then it really is true..." She looked at him in wonder and childlike awe. "You really are Him... You really are 'The One' and I really am your Mate?"

"_Desigu_r, My _Simpatie_. That you are..." His voice dropped to a deep husky resonance as he raised up to capture her lips in a tender loving kiss. "And no others but you." It was during that kiss that Kaoru noticed that Kenshin had still retained his fangs to some extent. Though greatly receded and nearly a normal size, his canines remained seriously pointed and very sharp. A proud smile curled her full sensual lips beneath his kiss and a deep sigh of contented pleasure escaped from between them as she melted down into his body.

"I love you, Mighty Fang." She breathed into his mouth while the strength of her tongue tapped against his teeth. "You and no other." And as the barrier of his teeth parted letting her tongue pass through to begin a passionate battle with his, Kaoru heard her Mate's voice inside her head speaking in a fierce and almost arrogant tone.

_'See that you remember that, my indragostit... I would hate to have to remind anyone that you belong to ME and ME ALONE.' _And he rolled her beneath him so swiftly and in such predatory haste that Kaoru gasped in passionate surprise and instinctively arched her body up into the hardness of his. _'So beautiful... my lubit... so completely and utterly beautiful...' _His thoughts were a heated caress within her mind even as his lips moved to caress her flesh and his hands moved to lift her hips up into the rigidness of his need. _'Mine... for eternity, Kaoru... you are MINE for all the Eternities...'_

_'Gladly my Stepan... gladly...' _And the rationality of her mind faded into the glory of his love and passion as he once more entered her body and fused their souls and hearts making them one. Lifting her long sinuous leg's, Kaoru wrapped them around his waist, crossing them at the ankle locking him inside the powerful strength of her embrace, and he growled thickly as her actions fanned the spirit of the beast within him.

_'...love... you...' _The words were wrung from his being as he thrust against her violently causing her to whimper and cry out in mounting passion and need. _'...need you... Kaaoruu... need... you...' _The crescendo of their combined voices rose high as they clutched at one another pulling bodies closer, reaching for a deeper connection... a more satisfying penetration... the aching release they both needed from the other so desperately... reaching... wanting... needing.

Kaoru reached the blinding white precipice first and stood teetering on the edge of the snowy white cliff waiting... waiting... waiting for Kenshin... waiting... Then in a rush of voracious golden energy, he came and swept her up with him and they went careening over the edge and down into the deep well of fulfilment that was in each other's arms. Spinning wildly out of control, they flew past the worlds of the humans, the Pure Bloods, the Made... and as they came to rest at the bottom, they found themselves lying peacefully on a downy patch of soft green grass that cushioned their bodies and cradled them in the warm after-glow of their lovemaking.

"Where are we?" Kaoru asked in a soft hushed voice as she looked upward into a pure white sky without color or cloud. "Are we in a dream?"

"No, _simpatie._.. we are not in a dream." Tenderly he rolled to her side and pulled her into the haven of his arms. "We are floating within 'The Womb of The Mother'." The tone of his voice bordered on the sound of that of a knowledgeable old man, or a profoundly patient teacher. Either way, it was infinitely calm, smooth, and that of a cultured and educated person. Different. Not quite Kenshin, there was the feeling of something more... something bigger... something infinite and almost intangible. The touch of 'The One' was upon them as 'He' touched that which was 'himself' and that which was 'not'.

"The 'womb'..." Confusion filled the ebon-haired woman's voice and she snuggled closer to her human lover. "I don't understand, Kenshin... what does that mean? 'The Mother's Womb'?"

"We have crossed one of the planes of reality, Kaoru... we have entered into a altered state of consciousness. We have made contact with 'The Mother'."

"How do you know this?" She asked as she traced lazy lace patterns across his chest. " And who is 'The Mother', Kenshin?"

"'The Mother' is all things, _Simpatie_. She is the messenger of Fate, the Keeper of Time... It was by her laws that Prophecy was born to Nadia Corban's lips before she died, and it is by her will that I have found my way to where I am now. It was She who brought me to You... who brought us together... " The wide lavender irises of his beautiful eyes looked heavenward and he 'leaned' into the 'feeling' of The Mother's vastness... the Winds... the Oceans... the Earth itself. "How do I know this...?" His voice was soft and reverent as a prayer as he 'reached' out with his soul and caressed the massive presence around them. "I do not know... only that she is even as we are and she holds all life as most precious."

"Did she make you 'The One'?"

"Nu... But it is by her will that I will either become what I am destined to be... or fail in the trying." Kaoru sat up and looked down into the beautiful and ethereal face of her Mate and bit her lip in consternation.

"Why do you speak of failing, Kenshin? We have not yet even begun this fight, and you speak of failing. Why?"

"Because, _Simpatie_... the future is uncertain. No matter which pathway I choose to walk, the future will always be uncertain, and each of the players involved can only perform to the best of his or her personal limits or talents. We are each given certain gifts, and with those gifts we must try to become more than we are... Victory is not assured simply because I have arisen as foretold in the Prophecy... victory and peace must be fought for... struggled for... and eventually either won or lost by whichever side proves the strongest. Be that as it may, Hope is one of our strongest allies right now... Hope and Trust."

"They are such small words to me... I have never believed very much in either of them." Her dark blue eyes gazed steadfast into his calm violet eyes and her hand gently cupped his cheek. "But, if we are to go forward into battle against a foe whose numbers increase by the thousands each month... we must have Hope."

"Yes,_ lubit_... we must have Hope." Slowly he sat up and tenderly brushed her hair away from her face. "Can you tell me what we need more that Hope and Trust?" His eyes bore into hers and she caught her breath as a brilliant circle of gold began to glimmer around each of his black pupils. "Hope and Trust are essential to our cause, Kaoru, but even more so than either of those things, we need something else, and without it, we _will _fail."

"What?" Her face became anxious as she cupped his handsome face in both hands. "Tell me... what is it? Tell me so I can help you."

"Faith... we must have Faith." His gaze was rock solid and unwavering as he looked into her soul. "You must find it within yourself, for you have none, my _lubit_."

"I... I know." Blue sapphires lowered in shame before his penetrating look and her hands dropped to his chest. "I have never.... I have never believed in anything... except my own skills as a Slayer."

"You must find your Faith, Little One... If you are to stand beside me as my _Nevasta, _and my blood bride... you must find your Faith that we may stand together." Her head nodded and he heard the smallest of sounds being made in her throat. A deep sigh escaped him, and he reached out for her. Pulling her into his arms, he cradled her lovingly against his chest. "I love you, Kaoru... you and no other, and I have 'faith' in you, my _simpatie_... I have faith in you."

She had wrapped her arms around him and cried against his neck for a time, until he had brought her back to the reality that the dawn would shortly be upon them and she had to be leaving or she would never make it to the compound safely.

"You must go now, _simpatie,_ the sun will be up soon and you must be back in time before the entrance is sealed." Caressing her face tenderly he wiped her tears away and gently kissed her lips. "It will be all right... I promise it will. Do you believe me?" Large moist blue eyes rose to meet the brilliant lavender crystalline gaze that lovingly stroked her face, and she nodded quietly. "Good, now stop your tears and find the strength with in you that has always been yours... not the bravado you have lived on and behind all these years, but your strength of spirit, and hold my hand." Lacing their fingers together tightly, he had smiled rakishly at her, leaned back into her and kissed her passionately and then pulled her screaming into the blinding white sky above them like a bottle rocket exploding off the ground on the fourth of July.

"KEENNNSHHIN!!!!" Kaoru's voice screeched through the white void as she clamped her eyes shut in terror hanging onto Kenshin's hand like a panic stricken leech, and then suddenly they were wildly bouncing like a couple of water balloons in the middle of his king-size waterbed and she was scrabbling around desperately trying to get her bearings. "WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?"

"Calm down, Baby." He was laughing and trying to pull her back into his arms, but she was having none of it and Kenshin found himself ducking and dodging the snaking blur of her fist as she attacked him. "Whoa! Hey, wait a minute..."

"Bullshit!" She yelled as she pounced on top of him. "You said we weren't going to do anymore shit like that, you evil sonofa..." Catching her clenched fist just before she connected with his nose, Kenshin was finally able to flip her over onto her back and then pin her with one of his legs. "Hey! Lemme up you.... DAMMIT!! Lemme up so I can kill you!" She began fish-flopping beneath him and he was laughing so hard he almost lost his hold on her.

"Cut it out...." Gasping for breath between guffaws and wrestling with her, Kenshin finally managed to get a good hold on her and effectively pinned her to the bed. "What do you mean? I said we weren't going to 'do anymore shit LIKE THAT?' What are you talking about?"

"Jumping off buildings and scaring the hell out of me... that shit." She glared at him mutinously and tried in vain to get away but failed miserably. It was at that moment that she decided that him coming into all of his powers and strengths was a BAD idea because it made him stronger than her... and that was just not good. No, it was not good at all. She had not felt this vulnerable in many long years... hundreds of years to be exact, and this was not setting well with her pride. That it was not, and to make matters worse, he was laughing again and she couldn't even smack him in his smirking face for it. _Fuck him!_

"But, Kaoru-Honey... we didn't jump off a building. We went flying through the White-void of The Mother... that's a big difference between 'falling' and 'flying', Baby." Rubbing his nose against hers just to add insult to injury, Kenshin snickered and nibbled at her chin. "Do we need to have a discussion on aeronautics and gravity?"

"Damn you!!" She yelled into his jolly face. "Let me up before I really do kill you!"

"You think the way you've been threatening me and such really makes me _wants _to let you up, Kaoru? I don't think so..."

"Kenshin..." The look on her face was about to go thermal so he decided to finally take pity on her... and take cover. So, with a blinding fast roll away from her, he released her and leapt off the bed and took himself to the door of the bedroom in a split instant, and as he was pulling the door shut on her astonished face, he smiled and winked wickedly.

"I'll go find your clothes while you...ahh... calm down." Then with an unforgiving chuckle he had shut the door and left her setting there with her mouth hanging open wondering just how in the hell he had moved so damn fast...

"You're dead flyboy... dead..." She muttered.

"We need to do that more often, _lubit._" He sputtered as he rinsed the soap out of his hair and off his body before turning off the shower and reaching for his towel. "A lot more often."

The smile on his face had remained through his coffee and toast, morning rush hour traffic (he took the bus seeing as how he had left his car at his grandfather's the night before), the walk to the Precinct from the bus stop, and even through the jibes, jabs, and mock accusations from the 'Uniforms' he passed on his way to his office.

It felt like a good morning to him. That was until Sano showed up with THAT look on his face.

"Uhh... what's the matter, Sargent? You look like you swallowed your toilet this morning, or is that the other way around?" The thin gold-framed glasses setting on the end of Kenshin's nose gave him a hawk-like appearance as he looked over the top at the tall disheveled detective that was wandering through the doorway.

"Very funny, Captain... very funny." His voice was acrid with sarcastic displeasure as he tossed his rumpled jacket over the back of his desk chair and then turned to shut the door behind him. "Tell me something, will ya?" He asked as he cast a malevolent brown gaze on the seemingly chipper redhead whose feet were propped up on his desk top. "You get any sleep last night?"

"Some... why?" Kenshin flipped the page of the report he was scanning and gave Sano a sidelong glance wondering what the hell his partner was getting at. He didn't have to wait very long.

"Well, isn't that just peachy-keen for you and the rest of New York City. Aren't we all just fucking pleased as poop in a punch bowl that Captain Himura got some sleep last night while his stupid partner, Sanosuke Sargara sat up the whole damn time with one fucking weird old man listening to the history of 'The Family Corban' and 'Cel' and 'The Vampire Revolution' and 'The War of The Worlds' or whatever the hell it is that's coming and how my best friend in the whole world is a.... a... a..." He stammered into sudden silence and then just stood and stared at Kenshin in incredulity and some nameless emotion his breathing heavy and labored.

"A Vampire." Kenshin lowered his feet, put the file on his desk, took off his glasses, and slowly stood up to face a man he had known since he was ten years old. "Is that is, Sano... I'm a Vampire... I'm the last of the line of 'Corban'... the Greatgrandson of the last Vampire King... _Iam_ 'Cel'... _I am _the one who is going to lead 'my people' into this 'War of The Worlds' my grandfather told you about. Is that what this is all about, more so than the fact that you didn't get any sleep?" He waited as a pregnant silence filled the small room, and he watched as the face he had trusted for so many years fell into confusion and a man of incredible inner strength crumbled into his chair in an exhausted pile of arms and legs. "Is _that_ it?" He asked again in an even softer voice the hint of uncertainty and fear audible. "Sano?"

"Yes... yes... but no. _Shit_, I don't know, Bud. I'm so damned confused by everything, can you understand that?" Haunted brown eyes rose and locked with worried violet ones and then Sano was raking his big hands through the mess that was his dark brown hair before burying his face in his palms. "I saw shit the last two days that I never saw before... except in the movies, you know... it's hard to accept, fucking hard, man, and I'm so tired... so damn tired. I don't know if I heard or saw half what I think I did."

"You heard it, Sano. You saw it. Everything was real, I swear it to you, my friend... and... and all I can do is promise you that you are in no danger from me or those like me." The voice was so low that Sano had to strain to hear it, and when he looked up, he realized Kenshin had turned away and was looking out the window.

"How do I know that, Buddy? How can I tell one from the other?"

"That isn't for you to worry about..."

"Then who the hell is going to worry about it, Kenshin? These Vamps, whoever they are, they walk around like regular people, for Godsake... how can you tell the difference between one and a real person?" It was panic, it was confusion, it was... denial?

"Real people? Is that what human's are now, Sano? Real People?" Kenshin's head drooped and a deep, sad sigh escaped him. "What does that make me? I'm half human, and half Vampire... half 'Pure Blood'. Pure Blood's do not prey on Human's... the 'Made' prey on human blood... they are the murderer's, that is why it is they who must be exterminated, that is why the War must be brought forth... that is why _I _am here... That is why I am both a _'Daywalker' _and a_'Nightprowler' _. Only I can go where both sub-species live... only I can exist in both worlds... as well as the human world. I am 'The Fang of Pythagoras'... I am 'The Fang of Justice'. It is up to me to cleanse the world of 'my people's' _mistake_."

"Mistake?" Sano sounded as confused as he felt. "What the hell are you talking about? What mistake?"

"The _'Made'_." Sano watched in shuddering awe as Kenshin's body structure shifted before his eyes, and the immaculate hands morphed growing long black talons that could easily slice open tender flesh and perhaps any other substance they chose. The flaming mane of red hair that had always been his grew longer and thicker until it reached his knees, and then it darkened into a brilliance of orange, red, and yellow that gleamed in the morning sun like molten gold causing Sano to squint slightly at the glare. "My people _'Sired' _the 'Made' and summarily let their numbers get out of control thus leading to the Revolt that nearly annihilated the Pure Bloods, and inevitably killed the Ruling Faction scattering the survivors across the face of the earth which left the 'Made' to multiply unchecked and prey upon the unsuspecting human race like Eagles in a open field of mice."

"Kenshin... I..." Sano sucked in his breath as the man at the window turned to face him. The horror and the beauty were almost more than he could absorb, but he could not look away.

"I am what I am, Sanosuke." The golden eyed creature gazed gently at the awe struck human. "I am Vampire. I am released from the bonds of my human life... I have found my_'Mate' _and taken her as my own as well as made contact with the ancient blood of my family... I am released. _'Cel' _is born... free... and my power is fully upon me as you can see." Kenshin spread his arms and lifted his hands palms up. "I can run faster than time... I can jump higher than eighty feet straight up, at least... I am stronger than 100 men... I can travel from one plane of reality to another with a thought... and I have powers and strengths as yet unseen I'm sure. Am I a monster, Sano?" His fangs were easily discernable as he spoke and a tear slipped free from his glorious eyes as he met the confusion and grief riddled gaze of his lifelong friend. "Is that what you see now... A monster? Is that what _'this body of evidence'_ leads you to believe now? Is that what _I _am? If that is what you see... perhaps you should kill me where I stand. All it would take is one bullet from your nine. One bullet through my very living heart, and my misery and your suffering would be over..."

"Kenshin... don't do this..." Clouds of tears and a sadness that reached clear to Sano's soul could be seen in his eyes as he dropped his face back into his hands and drew in a deep rasping breath of emotional pain. "I can't handle this... I can't."

"Then what do you want me to do, my _tovaras_? I am what I am... I am the '_Savior_' of my people... and WE are not the beasts that stalk the night you are including us with when you say 'Vamps' vs 'Regular people'. We are not so different from you 'humans'..."

"What about your 'Pimp Killer', _Mighty Fang_? What about Him? What would you call him if not a _beast_?" A flare of angry righteousness flashed in his eyes as his voice rose on a desperate note of frustration. "He's 'pure blood' and yet he seems to be preying on some very human individuals even if they are the scum of the planet. What about '_Him'_?" Kenshin's eyes flickered in indecision for an instant and then he slowly approached the obviously tormented man.

"To begin..." His voice took on an otherworldly echo as he reached inside and touched that part of him that would bring the wisdom of the Ancient's to bear, and as Sano's eyes grew round in further astonishment at the change, he continued. "It is not the relationship of 'Hunter' and 'prey' that we have been investigating in this case, although it is indeed a 'Pure Blood' as I believed."

"Wh-what is it then?" Sano suddenly felt as if he were in the presence of something older than the Egyptian Pyramids in the deserts... older than the Mayan's and their stone temples in the Jungles... older than the Andes Mountain hieroglyphics... perhaps older than time itself, but he know longer felt as if he were in merely setting with his oldest friend any longer. It was much, much more than that... and he was... afraid?

"It is Judgement and Punishment."

"Punishment...? You mean, their being..."

"Executed, Sanosuke. Each of them are being executed for their crimes against humanity and for their contributions toward the degradation of woman, teenagers, and the unfortunate upon whom they prey unmercifully as whoremonger's, drug dealers, extortionists, blackmailers, and murderers."

"Oh my God... is that what they are doing? Killing the _heavy-hands_?"

"Yes, but they are discriminate... they do not kill at will or mercilessly. They use a naturally occurring neuro-toxin in their saliva that numbs and paralyzes their quarry before they kill them... that is why there is no struggle. Their fangs are twice as long as a 'Made's' making the blood flow faster. The surrounding tissue dissolves during and after feeding." It all sounded so scientific almost as if they were discussing the weather not the perfection of a supernatural killing machine.

"The neuro-toxin? That's what Megumi found in the toxicology screens, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. A 'Pure Blood can use it at will as it is located in special excretory sacs beneath their tongues. They can be activated by applying pressure with the tongue and is best transferred during kissing. It is not lethal and will wear off in several hours if the victim is left alone. It does not harm other 'Pure Bloods' obviously, or we would all be Zombies in our lovers arms." The last was said with such a blank and bland look that Sano saw no humor in it despite the obvious.

"She'll never be able to identify it, will she?"

"No. It has no known 'human' or 'animal' properties. The closest she will come is a plant derivative. It will end up being labeled as an 'unknown' toxin."

"God... what am I supposed to do with all of this, Kenshin? Just take it to my grave with me? Huh? What the fuck am I supposed to do?" His inner turmoil was obvious and he stood up in an exasperated jerk. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel guilty about not telling the Chief that I know something... you know that?"

"I know. You do what you have to do, Partner... but before you do, there is one more thing you have to know about the 'Pimp Killer'... something very important."

"How important?" Sano turned back to face Kenshin and locked gazes with those amazing golden crystals. "I don't want to know this... do I."

"It isn't a 'Him'..."

"Don't...."

"It's a 'Her'...."

"Stop.... I don't want to know this..." He knew what was coming.

"She is my 'Mate'."

"Fuckin' hell..." He slumped back down into his chair and dropped his head back onto the cushion. "How did I know you were going to say that?"

"Perhaps because in your heart you already knew." Once more Kenshin turned back to the window and looked out across the street as he clasped talon-tipped hands behind his back. "We have been together for a long time... you and I."

"Since we were kids..."

"A long time... do you remember the day we met, Sano?" A smile curved the dark-haired mans lips despite the somber and dismal mood of the moment. It was hard not to smile when recalling that particular day, hard indeed.

"Yeah... I remember." He mumbled with a wry chuckled. "You were the skinniest piece of white trash I ever saw in my life, and I still never have figured out how you managed to get yourself out numbered 150 to 1..."

"There were only 11 other children, Sanosuke, not 150. You were always were an exaggerator when it came to that day."

"Hey, I saved your sorry skinny white ass, Bud... I can say there were a million there if I want." Kenshin laughed softly and nodded his head in defeated agreement.

"Yes, I suppose you can, but there were still only 11."

"Yeah, and I kicked all their asses while you were eatin' dirt and choking on your own teeth."

"And you've had my back ever since... haven't you?" As soon as the smile came it was replaced by a confused frown and Sano was staring at Kenshin's back realizing that the man had once more morphed back into his full human self. "You have always been there for me... whether it was with your nine covering me, or your fists backing me up... or just hanging out getting drunk and looking for girls. It never mattered, Sano, you have always been there for me ever since that day."

"That's what best friend's are for, Buddy. They back each other up." _What are you doing? Where are you going with this and why do I feel like I'm not going to like it when you get there?_

"I don't think I ever really said 'Thank-you, Sano..." The red head turned around and

looked at the troubled man setting at the desk. "I should have... a hundred times, maybe a thousand... or even more. Anyway, thanks... you're the best friend any guy could ever have, I've been lucky to have you for mine... and to have you as my Partner as well. Couldn't ask for a better one."

"What are you doing, Kenshin? What is this?" A cold hand was squeezing Sano's chest and the strangest feeling of fear was working its way into his vitals. Something was wrong.

"I'm saying 'Good-bye', my _tovaras_."

"Good-bye? What the hell are you talking about?" Sano shot out of his chair once more and faced Kenshin in outrage. "You can't do that to me. You don't just say 'Good-bye and do whatever it is you're planning... I won't let you. I won't!" An ironic smile crossed Kenshin's face as he looked into Sano's angry face, and then he reached out and put his hand on the big mans shoulder.

"It isn't for you to say, Sanosuke, but I realized as we talked that you're right."

"I'm _WHAT_?" Brown eyes bulged dangerously in their sockets. "What the fuck are you saying? I'm never _RIGHT_?" Kenshin laughed gently and squeezed his friends shoulder.

"You are this time. I can't ask you hide 'me' and my 'Mate' or 'our people' or what is going on around us, but nor can I deny what I am or what I have to do." A look of profound sadness settled on the handsome boyish features and Kenshin looked as if he could shed tears. "I can't ask you to deny your sense of 'Honor', Sanosuke... I can't do that to you. It would kill you to keep all of this under your hat especially with what has yet to come to light..."

"What... what has yet to come to light?"

"Four dead policeman..."

"FOUR...?!" Kenshin watched the color drain from Sano's face and then a look of horrified understanding enter his chocolate brown eyes as he recalled the way Kenshin had screamed 'Don't touch her!" and then disappeared from his grandfather's house the night before. "What happened?" The whisper was barely a croak.

"They had her cornered in a box alley on Wilshire and 56th..." His voice was just as low and almost as raspy. "They were going to kill her... she killed three of them before I got there... I... I... killed one, the last one before he blew her head of with his 12 gauge riot."

"Holy shit!... Oh God... were you... did you..."

"I was... 'Cel'... the other four would never know me as... Myself. It was a battlefield."

"Jesus... she killed them... up against eight and she killed 3?" He was incredulous.

"In self-defense... she was unarmed... they shot her to pieces, Sano... the alley looked like a war zone there were so many bullet casings and spent rounds... and so much gunpowder smoke in the air... I don't know how she made it out alive at all."

"They... shot her up? Are you shitting me?" He looked into Kenshin's face horrified. "They had her cornered and they shot her up? Why?"

"I don't know... but I would hazard a guess that knowing her 'winning' personality she probably goaded them into it trying to find a way to get out thinking they would make a mistake... she was almost right."

"Is... is she alright?" The worry and concern in Sano's voice reached out and touched Kenshin's heart and he looked up into his friends face and found it to be an honest and true emotion.

"Yes... strangely enough, Sano, once we 'mated'... the 'Pure Blood' way and shared our blood, her wounds healed completely. There weren't even any scars. It was amazing... it was... a miracle, it really was."

"You're shitting me."

"No, I'm not. They were gone." Kenshin turned away shaking his head and running his hand through his hair. "She was shot clean through on the right side... right through the meat of her liver, and it was gone like it had never been there.... not mark at all."

"Shit! I wanna meet this girl." Whirling around abruptly, Kenshin stared at Sano in amazement and complete surprise.

"Now _YOU"RE _shitting me... aren't you?" _Sano...?_

"Hell no... there's a girl out there who finally tied you around her little finger, she Alamo'ed herself against eight armed men, she can dodge bullets, practically heal on command... more or less, and she takes out pimp's for a hobby..." A great big toothy grin was suddenly flashing across the big mans face and his big brown eyes began to twinkle wickedly. "Damn... I always wondered what kind of woman it would take to blow you over... I gotta meet this woman... oh yeah." A slow smile started at the corners of Kenshin's mouth as he eyed his friend carefully.

"She's a Vamp, Sano..."

"Is she pretty?" He hitched his leg up on the corner of his desk and met the trepidatious violet gaze.

"Beautiful... beyond your wildest imaginations."

"Serious...? Or are you bullshitting me?"

"Dead serious... that I am." _Don't get any ideas..._

"All right then... this is the way it's gonna be... '_Cel_'," Sano's gaze turned rock hard as he locked it with Kenshin's wary violet one. "You're right, I've been backing you up for a long time... almost fifteen years if you get right down to it, and I don't feel like breaking up the best team that's ever been just because there is some screwy bullshit going on that I don't quite understand... you got me, Cap?" _We are a team... we've always been a team... you aren't going to leave me behind... I won't let you... I CAN'T let you... I know that NOW... maybe I always knew, your grandfather knew, I guess that's why he told me all that stuff about you. Whatever, my place is at your side whether its as your friend or fighting, and if you're going to War, Kenshin, I'm going with you._

"Yes... so?"

"So..." His voice shifted and became edged with steel and bordered on malevolent. "_YOU ARE NOT SAYING NO 'GOOD-BYE' TO ME... NOT NOW... NOT EVER... GOT THAT YOU SKINNY LITTLE RED-HEADED CROW_?!" Kenshin's eyes widened at the thinly veiled threat and found himself nodding silently as a large knot of nerves tied itself in the pit of his stomach. "Good... because there isn't anybody else out there who knows how you think like I do, and if you try working with one of their 'Lieutenant's', you're just gonna get yourself killed... and then you won't be any good to anybody." _I'm not letting some stupid Vampire get MY Captain killed, not when I know all your moves... all your strategies... and the way your mind works, strange as it is. They don't... I do... and my place is at your back... always at your back._

"Perhaps... but, Sano..."

"Perhaps, hell." Sano cut him off abruptly. "You know I'm right. We've been 'prowling the streets together to long for you to try and start doing it with someone else... and you know it." _You are NOT leaving me..._

"You are right, but you are at a disadvantage."

"What... besides my being human?"

"That IS the disadvantage." Kenshin looked at his friend with deep respect. "Unfortunately, it makes you slow, and vulnerable."

"Maybe in that respect, but you can die just as easily as I can... and if you're so worried about me be slow, pick me up. You said you were stronger than 100 men... carry me on your back if you have to, but you aren't leaving me behind, damn you. I won't let you. Not now... not when I can be an asset to you in this." His ferocity finally caught Kenshin's real attention and he gave Sano his full consideration. "You don't want me to 'hide' what I know... well, someone is going to have to or somebody is going to discover what is going on and that can't happen. _YOU_can't be discovered, Ken, you can't, nor can your girl. If the two of you are that important to the future of your people, you are that important to the human race as well. I guess I just sort of realized that... see, if you lose... we humans become 'food for the God's' so to speak... that's what your grandfather said last night, or something like that anyway. He said no blood would be spared and all life as we know it would cease and the world would fall into despair... I can't let that happen anymore than you can. So don't try to leave me behind... Please." _Hear me, DAMMIT!! HEAR ME!!_

"Sano... I don't know what to say..."

"I'm an asshole... I'm a jerk.... I'm stupid... say whatever you want, Bud, I know that everything I said this morning was... cruel and wretched and... desperate. I didn't want to face what was in front of me. I don't think anyone would... you don't either, do you?" _You... you hate what you are... don't you... Oh God... why didn't I see that... I'm so stupid... that's part of why it hurts you so much... you don't want it either... I'm so fucking stupid..._

"No..." The whispered word slammed into Sano's emotions harder than any 'ton of bricks' ever had and he knew that he had finally made the right decision. "I never wanted this... I would give almost anything to have it taken from me... almost... but I can't... it is mine to bear. Mine."

"And I will go with you, My Captain... I will go with you and help you bear the load and face the dangers... just as I always have." Sano reached out and gripped Kenshin's shoulder tightly as he caught the steady violet gaze with his dark brown one. "_WE_ will go together... you lead, and I will follow."

_Finished... finally. Took me days and days. Just kept growing and growing. There was so much for them to say to each other... so much to be understood... it is what it is... _

_Thank you to those who have reviewed... Including those who IM only, or write Emails..._


	9. Hand of Justice

A/N: Thus enters the Villian... He's so bad, you gotta love him. WARNING: GRAPHIC GORE

Review Response at end of chapter

Chapter Nine

The Hand of Justice

The Moors of England

Saitou's Castle, outer grounds

Early Morning... 5:03 a.m.

Characters:

Hajime Saitou

Arturo Patronii

Shiiba

Jack

Ryan

Elliot Havashum

Polly

The whine of a katana singing through the cold crisp morning air was the only sound that broke through the wispy floating mists that clung to damp moors, and as the blade changed angle slicing upward, a flashing glint of blood red winked brilliantly along the perfect steel and then splattered soundlessly upon the moist green grasses. Silence came to reign in the world of the shimmering mists and then the ominous muted sound of something solid falling to the ground shattered the calm.

"Bloody useless fools," Once more, the high-pitched whine of the razor sharp katana sang through the shifting fogs and the sound of several more objects striking the ground was heard. "If you cannot be of value to me in this world of light and men, then you are of no value to me at all."

A shift in the morning breeze moved the layer of silver gray fog revealing a scene of carnage that was oft times common place in this particular part of the moors. Blood spattered the area and ran in thick rivers through the grasses as seven dead bodies lay crumpled in various poses of death each having fallen where they had died. Each body was the same in only one way, neither of them retained the head they had worn during the days of their living life. The decapitations had been swift and clean happening in the mere blinking of an eye. The heads being severed with such speed that the look of surprise was still frozen upon each face.

"Arturo," The bloodied blade was being wiped clean on the front of one of the dead men's white dress shirts. The hands that held it were speckled with bloody streaks and flecks that were also noticed traveling up the bare flesh of each sinuous forearm.

"Yes, My Lord."

"I want these bodies removed and disposed of before full sunrise, is that clear?"

"Of course, My Lord. It will be done." The smooth faced Italian bowed deeply at the waist as he acknowledged the order from his superior, and the subordinate tone of his accented English further bespoke of his deep loyalties to the man beside him. "Do you require any... souvenir's, My Lord?" It was a common question to ask, but there were times Arturo dreaded asking. There was no telling what the Master would want.

"Yes," The tall slim built man with Iron gray hair and liquid amber eyes stared with vicious malevolence at the bodies and heads of the seven men he had just slaughtered before turning to his human servant. "I want their teeth, Arturo. Bring me their teeth."

"As you wish, My Lord." Arturo bowed and silently thanked the Gods that these men's teeth were all the Master wished for this time. Too many was the time before that he had had to butcher a man's body in order to bring the bloody heart to the Master. Teeth were a simple task compared to that.

"And Arturo..."

"Yes, My Lord?"

"Bring Havashum to me as soon as he can be found." Hajime Saitou turned around and faced the thin handsome Italian as he grated his fangs together across his lower teeth in a display of cold anger. "I want to _see _him... immediately."

"It will be done, My Lord Saitou." Arturo felt a shiver of displaced fear race along his carefully attuned nerve endings as a vision of Elliot Havashum's fate flittered briefly before his minds eye. It was not a pleasant vision.

"See that it is." Arturo bowed once more as the powerful Vampire walked past him, the smell of blood and fury lingering about him like a heavy cape though he wore nothing more than a sleeveless gi and japanese hakama. It was simply the aura that followed him as he left the scene of his recent 'judgement' against those whom he felt had failed him.

'Blood Judgement'. It was swift, deadly, and merciless.

"Foolish men," Arturo looked dispassionately at the mounds of dead flesh that had once been men he knew and worked with. "Did you learn nothing from me? Did you not learn that no one, man or Vampire, can stand against the Master and win? It is a futile battle and you will always lose."

"I am sure they know that now, Senior Arturo." Arturo turned and gazed into the deceptively innocent face of his youngest companion, Shiiba. "They were fools, just as you say, and they were too weak to serve the Master. They deserved to die."

"Is that what you believe, my friend?" Arturo's dark brown eyes turned thoughtful and shrewd as he contemplated the younger man. "Do you presume to know who is fit to serve the Master, and who is not? Do you believe YOU are fit to serve, or will it be your head that rolls bloody upon the grasses the next time the Master's sword flies?" Shiiba's face jerked to the side as his large sea green eyes grew round with surprise and alarm if not fear at the mention of the possible loss of his own head.

"Do... do you know something, Senior? Am I... Am I..." The pale face grew more pale and the full almost girlish lips began to turn a sickly gray as fear seized hold of his heart. "Have I done something wrong?"

"No, you have not, Shiiba, but never over estimate your own value to the Master. Not even _I_ feel completely safe and the Master relies more heavily upon me than anyone else." Arturo turned to the four men standing behind him who were silently waiting for his command, and he motioned for them to come forward and begin. "No one knows what the Master will consider a failure or a victory. None of us can hope to know his mind, we can only hope to serve the best we can and keep our heads in the process."

"H-how do we do that if nothing is ever certain?"

"Always be respectful, never voice your opinion, and wait for him to summon you. Never, never assume you have anything to say that he wants to hear." The wise words sank in deeply and the younger man slowly nodded his head in understanding. "Never balk at a request or an order no matter how difficult or disgusting it may sound, follow his lead and instructions to the letter, and always agree with him unless he asks you what you think... and above all, Shiiba, never turn your back to him."

"What do you mean?"

"The moment you show your back to the Master whether intentional or not, he will strike you through the heart and rip you to pieces." Shiiba's hand rose trembling to his chest where he clutched the fabric over his now thundering heart. "He views it as the deepest disrespect and will punish you for it despite your usefulness to him or not."

"He kills those who turn their back to him? Even if it's an accident?" Green eyes filled with frightened awe and the young man swallowed hard against the lump that rose in the back of his throat. "He just chops off your head... just like that... no warning... just 'whack' and you're dead?"

"No, Shiiba. I told you, he will strike you in the heart." Arturo put his hand on the younger mans shoulder and looked him hard in the eye. "He tears out your heart with his bare hand and eats it in front of your dying eyes."

"Shit..."

"Always remember."

"I will..." Arturo watched as his friend grew to a new level of understanding and respect for their powerful Lord and some of his finer points of view.

"Come now," He said as he turned to the rest of the men. "We have only a short time before full sunrise, and these bodies must be disposed of." Mumbles of assent and agreement were heard and numerous black body bags appeared ready to be filled with the bloody remains. "Bring me the heads and a pair of strong plyers," He instructed coldly. "The Master has requested the teeth be brought to him." Shiiba turned a questioning face to Arturo who said nothing but quietly accepted the plastic coveralls, rubber gloves, and safety goggles that were given to him. "Get to work, Shiiba. Time is against us."

The first head was given to him and closing his eyes, Arturo blocked out the fact that it was a familiar face he held in his hands, and then with a deep throated growl, he viciously tore the mandible free exposing both sets of teeth inside the bloody skull. They were easy to pull free as he jerked and tugged and broke bone as necessary. It took less than 20 minutes to remove them all. Then he dropped the small ivory colored teeth into a ziplock bag, labeled it, and started on the next head.

By the time the Sun rose in the Eastern Sky, seven ziplock bags held seven sets of bloodied teeth, and seven black body bags were being loaded onto an 'Ice Cream' truck that would take them to a secret location inside of the city where they would be incinerated thus destroying any evidence that those men had ever lived. They would simply become missing person's that would never be found. There was only one thing left to do.

Find Elliot Havashum.

Elliot lived on the better side of London in a large expensively furnished house with four floors. He employed over 30 servants including his own private chauffeur, a gardning staff that kept the massive grounds immaculately groomed, a kitchen staff to cook and fulfill his ever culinary whim, and a house-staff that was constantly cleaning the all but empty house that was filled with expensive foreign furniture.

Heavy Persian rugs dotted the immaculately waxed hard wood floors, intricate hand carved furniture with plush velvet cushions sat before fireplaces and large bay windows with heavy satin and damask curtains of blood red, forest green, royal blue, and rich purples.

Polished wooden and marble tables sat close to chairs and couches supporting vividly painted vases from Japan, Venice, and even India as well as carefully selected and purchased pieces of sculpture and blown glass. The walls were a veritable museum of fine art as painting after painting caught the morning light revealing names such as Van Gosh, Monax, Renoir, and many others that turned the house into a multi-million dollar tax shelter and any Insurance Companies nightmare. The security system cost over $100,000.00 alone.

Elliot had been in the service of The Black Diamond for almost eight years, and had been in charge of one of his more profitable import/export companies shipping valuable hand painted German glass over seas to the United States and bringing cocaine and Marijuana back. The highly profitable drugs were then dispersed to the Master's thousands of Dealer's across Europe and the Eastern Sea Board as well as to his distributers in Germany. It had been a profitable relationship that Saitou had established nearly 75 years ago, and Elliot had taken full advantage of the opportunity to become General Manager when the Master offered it to him.

Unfortunately, over the last few years he had begun to take advantage in more ways than just the generous salary he earned. Elliot began skimming from the top of the companies profits and padding his private bank accounts. Two years had passed since he had covertly opened his own 'sub-business' that coat-tailed along the edges of his employers company. He was secretly transporting his own drug cartel back and forth from Germany. The cocaine he obtained was substandard and often resulted in over-dose deaths and blood poisoning of the pitiful junkies that bought the tainted product. This fact did not bother him in the least, he continued to sell it under the guise of his employer's name at the same price as the much purer cocaine The Black Diamond was known for.

Eventually, that was how he had been found out. An unsatisfied customer bringing the sum of his remaining cocaine to the Master and demanding his money back because he had been sold tainted product. The Master had taken the cocaine and had it tested thus discovering that it contained more non-product than cocaine. He had become more than furious as he demanded from the Dealer whom he had purchased the product from and where.

In those following terrifying moments, Elliot Havashum's life became a less than valuable commodity. He became the first name on the Master's new 'Judgement List', it was followed by the names of his seven employee's and the edict was handed down to Arturo and his men that each and every one of them was to be found and brought before the Master. His judgement was swift.

Only Elliot remained.

This particular morning found the marked Company Manager in bed with his favorite house maid. The two of them had been up most of the night drinking, shooting up, and having sex. Now the hang-over that was pounding in his head felt like five 50lb. sledge hammers slamming into the bones of his skull, and as the sunshine began to peak through the crack of the curtains, he moaned and rolled over onto his stomach pulling his pillow over his aching head.

"Get the fuck away..." He mumbled as he waved an absent hand toward the offending light and then groaned as the pain in his temples intensified. _'I should never shoot heroin and coke together with Jack Daniels and Tequilla... it just don't mix. Uugggh!'_

"Hey, baby..." The soft body of the woman lying next to him was suddenly being pressed against his nose and he inhaled the scent of her sweat, their sex, and the whiskey. "You want me to leave?" Her voice was slurred and muffled as it reached his ears through the padding of his pillow. "I really don't feel very good... can't I stay for just a while longer... Please?" He hated it when she whined, but at this point he didn't care if she stayed or left just so long as she stopped talking and moving.

"I wasn't telling you to leave, Polly. I was bitching at the friggin' sunlight."

"Oh, Okay... then you don't care if I stay?"

"No, I don't give a shit... just shut-up and stop rocking the bed." He listened to her mutter something about 'assholes' and 'hang-overs' as she rolled away, and then he was blissfully free of her and the smells she carried with her. _"How can something so sweet and sexy one minute be so disgusting and nauseating the next?' _Who knew... he didn't... and he didn't care.

Perhaps he should have. It may have been the last thing he had to care about for the rest of his pitiful life because the next moment the sheets and blankets were being roughly pulled off the bed exposing both nude bodies beneath.

Throwing the pillow off his pounding head, Elliot rolled over and grabbed for the 9mm he kept on the bedside table next to him. He never got that far. A giant fist came smashing down into his face and the world exploded into a burst of blue and red stars as the bones in his nose crunched and blood poured down into his open mouth.

Polly began to scream a high piercing cry of terror and hysteria as she tried to clamor her way off the bed, but one short vicious punch to the side of her head brought her to an abrupt halt. The tiny fragile bones of her temple and cheek gave way beneath the tremendous PSI of the blow and the ragged fragments were driven into the gelatin mass of her brain. She was dead before she dropped back onto the pillows, tiny trails of blood leaking out of her nose and left ear. Her wide doll-like blue eyes stared unseeing at the ceiling as the satiny cascade of her honey brown hair fluttered over the edge of the mattress to hang in a silky waterfall of golden curls.

"Did you have to kill her, Ryan? She was a beaut."

"Hey, I tried to hold back... didn't mean to crush her."

"Stupid hulking maggot. We coulda took her back to the Master... he mighta give her to us for a job well done... but now we got nothing but this fucking faggot to haul back."

"Sorry, Jack... I'll try to be more careful next time."

"Yeah, yeah... you and those big meat hooks you call hands. You never could hold a punch. You shoulda let me do her."

"Yeah, I guess I shoulda... sorry. I'll try to remember next time."

"Whatever, grab this bloke and let's get moving. Don't want to keep the Master waiting any longer than we have to because I don't know about you, Ryan ole' boy, but I'd like to keep me head another day." The big man called Ryan grabbed Elliot's limp form and wrapped him up in one of the sheets before throwing him over his broad shoulders. With one last longing glance over their shoulders at the body of the pretty Polly, the two men sauntered out of the dimly lit bedchamber and made their way back out of the plush mansion and to the old beat-up van they had come in. It would only take about an hour to drive back to the Castle, and they figured the bloke should stay unconscious at least that long.

So, with no worries they pulled the van out of the private driveway and turned onto the main road leading out of the city. Elliot Havashum's life was on a time meter and that time was ticking away.

_'Where am I?' _He struggled against the confining bonds that held him wrapped up like a mummy as pain and confusion erupted inside of his head. _'What is happening to me? Polly? Where are you? Where am I? What...' _The splintered fragment of a memory flashed through his mind as he recalled the massive fist rifling down into his face and the crunching of the bones beneath its irrefutable force. Then there was nothing but darkness... darkness and pain. This god-awful pain that was throbbing inside of his head, his face, his entire body felt as if he had been beaten with a baseball bat.

Vaguely he heard the distant muttering of two voices and the humming purr of an automobile engine. _'I'm in a car... or a truck or something... what the fuck is going on? Just who the hell are these bozo'z and where the hell are they taking me?' _Vainly he struggled against the sheet he was wrapped up in but found no purchase for his efforts. He was folded up like a fly in a spiders web, and he felt just as helpless. He couldn't see, he could hardly hear, and he couldn't move. A feeling of dread and doom began to grow and curl in the pit of Elliot's stomach as a reality check started to surface within the coke frazzle of his brain.

_'The Master... their taking me to the Master... oh God, that's it, that's all it can be... oh God, oh sweet mother...' _A whimper rose from his throat as fear congealed within his soul, and he wet himself. He was a dead man.

They threw him on the floor without any preamble what so ever, and a loud 'oof' was heard coming from the rolled sheet as it struck the black marble with enough force to shake the nearby table. Silence followed as the bundle rolled itself up into a terrified fetal position, and then the ominous faraway 'click-clock' of booted heels walking slowly and purposefully across the cold floor began to echo in the quiet. Tiny sobs of terror began to shake the bundle and the stench of urine filled the air.

"Disgusting." The single word brought forth a shivering cry from the mummified man on the floor as the tall lean Vampire walked around him. "At least your men were brave enough to face their demise silently and without showing fear... you are pathetic, Havashum. You and those like you are the reason I stopped 'siring' more of my kind. You are revolting to me." Saitou turned away from the shivering bundle and strode to a small dias that supported a large chair made of mahogany and black velvet cushions. "Unwrap him."

Ryan and Jack reached down and grabbed a hold of the edge of the soiled sheet and with one mighty pull, sent the whimpering sobbing Elliot sprawling across the black marble floor. His nakedness served only to further degrade his position of ill favor with the powerful Vampire who looked upon him with frozen amber eyes.

"Please, Master... I beg of you..." Elliot crouched before Saitou in complete submission as he tried to hide his body from the icy malevolent gaze. "Forgive me... forgive..."

"Forgive you?" A cold acidic laugh rolled out of Saitou's mouth showing the long milky white fangs that protruded threateningly from his upper pallet. "Do you even know why I have had you brought here, Elliot? Do you even know what crime you have committed... or are you simply begging for a life that is worthless and beneath my mercy just the same?"

"Please Master... I will do anything you ask of me... anything you say... I swear it, I will be your most loyal of subjects," The naked man scurried across the floor and began to kiss the toes of the Vampires black boots as he supplicated himself before him. "I will never be deceitful again... I will never steal from you again... I swear it on my blood, Master. I swear it..." A low feral growl oozed from Saitou's throat and he suddenly lunged down at the quivering man grabbing him by the throat and hauling him into the air leaving his feet to dangle uselessly above the ground.

"You would have the audacity to swear loyalty to me on your own worthless deceitful blood?" He snarled into the terrified man's face as it began to turn blue from lack of oxygen. "How dare you presume to insult me with such a paltry offering, as if you could placate me after the lies and deceit you have heaped at my feet. Did you really think you would be able to keep passing off that rat shit you've been selling as _MY_ product without ever being found out? Did you think _NO_ _ONE_ would ever come to me and question its purity or lack there of? Were you so arrogantly blind that you believed you could play me for a fool and get away with it indefinitely because I made the poor judgement of trusting you in the first place? _WERE YOU_?" With a vicious curse, Saitou threw the naked man away from him casting him nearly twenty feet into the room where he crashed to the floor in a splattering heap of arms and legs and choked cries of pain and fear. "You are a fool if you ever believed you would succeed in keeping this from me for any longer than you have... how could you betray me this way, Elliot? Why would you want to? It was not as if I did not give you everything you wanted as it was... you had more money than you knew what to do with already...why did you have to have more? Or was it the feeling of power you craved not the money?" Amber eyes filled with icy anger and confusion looked across the space that separated them from a man they once called 'companion', and tried to understand what had happened to bring them to this end.

"I... I wanted to know how you felt... I wanted to feel the rush..." Elliot lifted his head and looked into the blank face of the Vampire who stood contemplating him, and he knew that he had just signed his own death certificate. But what the hell, he was dead already.

"The rush?" Saitou cocked his head to one side as a knowing look passed over his sharp wolfish features. "There is no rush in making money, Elliot. There is no rush in stealing from ones trusted companions. The only rush that exists in this world the one that you feel when the blood of another sprays across your hands and face, and you know that his life is yours." Elliot's eyes widened in terror as Saitou's eyes gleamed a bright golden flash and then flamed into bleeding red hot coals within his rapier face. "Now that, my old companion, is a rush."

Elliot screamed as the blur of gray, black, and glowing red flew at him with such tremendous speed that he hardly had time to register movement occurring. Then he was being thrown backward into a rock hard embrace that seemed to squeeze the very air from his lungs leaving him breathless and without a voice. The flash of gleaming red passed before his eyes and then pain blossomed in his throat as those magnificent daggers slashed through his flesh and tore into the vessels that carried his blood. Warm liquid splattered over his face and chest as the carotid artery was severed and the blood burst forth like a jerking fountain spilling his life onto the cold black marble as Saitou dropped him and stood up. Elliot's eyes were dimming quickly and his body was twitching and flopping like a fish on the banks of a stream as it gasped for air... _'I'm dying...' _

The last thing he saw before his world went black was the Master laughing through a face stained crimson with his blood, and then licking it off of long tapering fingers as he walked away.

It was evening and the Sun was beginning to set. He had been unable to sleep all day, and the emotional exhaustion was wearing thin, but few would ever notice because he would never let them see any of his weaknesses. He could not afford to be weak.

The weak died. The strong lived, and he was the strongest.

His pale fingers played with the white note paper that had been delivered to him earlier that afternoon, the message it brought to him weighing heavily upon him as he pondered over what it meant to him and the legions of his kind.

_My Lord Saitou,_

_ I regret to inform you that Basil has been terminated. We do not know_

_ how or exactly when, but he has never returned from his patrols in the _

_ City Center, and no one has seen or heard from him for days. We can_

_ only assume that he had met his demise at the hands of either a Pure _

_ Blood, or some other unknown enemy._

_ I offer you my deepest condolences, I know how close the two of you were,_

_ and it grieves me to have to be the one to tell you of his unfortunate end._

_ We can only hope that he passed from this world fighting, as I am sure he_

_ did. It was his way. Unfortunately, this circumstance leaves us without a_

_ military leader and soldier instructor. I am hoping you have someone in_

_ mind who can fill his position as soon as possible. We are naked without_

_ our Leader._

_ Please respond with all due speed. We fear the worst is yet to come as the_

_ rumors of 'Cel's' release and evolution spread through the ranks, our peoples_

_ moral wavers. We need a Leader._

_ With all due humility and respect,_

_ Your dutiful servant,_

_ Machavelia_

_ 'Basil... my old friend. How is it that you are finally gone from this world and I did not feel your passing?' _Saitou bowed his head and lifted the note up once more to scan the contents before heaving a deep sigh and rising to his feet. _'Cel'... 'The Mighty Fang'... bah!' _He cursed viciously in his mind as he walked toward the heavily curtained windows. _'You have risen to become a thorn in my side already... was it your hand that took Basil from me, or one of your fanatical followers?' _Reaching out he grasped hold of the long silken rope and pulled. The curtains opened with one 'swoosh' revealing that the Sun had slipped behind the moors and dusk had settled across the land. The blazing pinks and fiery oranges of the sunset lit up the sky and proved to remind Saitou, not for the first time, of the brilliant pink stones of the Royal Palace and how they had run red with the blood of so many slain there. _'A day of providence... a day of power and glory... my day, and I will not let you take it from me, 'Fang of Pythagoras'. I earned the right to lead, I earned the right to wield the power of the Ancients... I will not give it up. Not without a fight, so if you want War, my foolish friend... then it is War you shall have.'_

Saitou swung away from the large window and strode swiftly across the marble floor, the heavy 'click-clock' of his boots echoing loudly in the spacious room.

"Artruo!" He shouted as he entered the hallway and turned left heading for the stairs. "Arturo!"

"Yes, My Lord." The dark eyed Italian came running from somewhere at the other end of the long hallway and breathlessly followed his Master up the stairs as the tall Vampire took them two and three at a time.

"We are going to America, Arturo." Saitou spoke fiercely over his shoulder as they reached the top of the stairs and turned right. "I want you to make travel arrangements for the first night flight plan available, fuel up the jet, and get the men prepared. We leave as soon as everything is ready."

"It will be done, My Lord." Arturo continued to follow Saitou as the Vampire entered his office study. "What destination in the America do you wish to travel to, My Lord?"

Saitou stopped and paused as he considered where he should go. _'Do I want to be in New York right under 'The Fang's' nose, or do I want to be somewhere else where I can watch him? Hmmmmm....' _Make plans for Philedelphia, Arturo. Have my real estate agent locate a suitable dwelling there and purchase it... you know what I mean when I say suitable."

"Of course, My Lord. It will be done."

"How long do you think all of this will take, Arturo?"

"Perhaps four, maybe five days, My Lord. Then all should be ready for a full departure."

"Acceptable." Saitou waved the Italian off with the elegant stroke of his hand, and then seated himself at his desk. Pulling out a piece of white letter paper, he began to write.

_My Dear Machavelia,_

_ Thank-you, my friend, for sending me the news of Basil's demise. I_

_ am in your debt for I would have never known of his passing without_

_ your words to tell me._

_ As for your request for another Military Leader, I have someone in_

_ mind who will be an excellent replacement. He is an Ancient the same_

_ as Basil and I. His name is Shishio, and his battle knowledge is unmatched._

_ I will locate him and send him to you as soon as possible. I expect_

_ you and the others will maintain a modicum of readiness at all times_

_ until he arrives. Becoming disheartened over the emergence of 'Cel'_

_ Will not be tolerated. You are first and foremost soldiers, and you_

_ will remember that._

_ As for myself, I will be relocating from England to an undisclosed site_

_ in America. Once I am settled and have my perimeters secure, I will let_

_ you know where I am, but until then, there will be no further communication._

_ War is brewing, my friend, and we must begin to make ready_

_ ourselves. The dawning of a new age is upon us. The age of the_

_ Made has come, and we must not fail._

_ Lord Saitou_


	10. Coming of An Age

A/N: Ok, this is unedited... my beta reader is still working on it, but I wanted to get something out. I can re-upload the 'polished' version when it comes in... but I've made you guys wait for a long time.

The reviewer responses are at the end. God bless everyone. I hope you like what's happening. KnT

Chapter Ten

The Coming of an Age

As the aura of incredible power filled the room, Soujiro's body suddenly surged upward beneath the pressure of his sisters hand and his dove blue eyes flew open wildly as the breath and vitality of life coursed through his damaged heart. He felt a burning sensation not unlike having a cup of molten lava dumped into his chest cavity and having it slowly incinerate his insides. His mouth opened wide and the scream of truest pain anyone had ever heard erupted from his flaming lungs, and then he collapsed into a limp unconscious mound of flesh in Aoshi's lap.

As the younger males breathing returned to normal, Aoshi gently reached out and removed the pressure of Kaoru's hand from its place in the center of his chest.

"Kaoru?" He called her name in a quiet but firm tone and waited to see if she would respond, but she remained unmoving her body taut and quivering with effort. The mask of pain and deep concentration that was her face, and was streaked with the blood of her own tears and her respirations were deep and labored as if she had run a great distance. The hand Aoshi held trembled and pulsated with an energy that he could feel touching him in the far reaching recesses of his spiritual self, but it was not an evil thing he felt coursing through her.

It was the energy of Life...

The power of Healing...

It was the very Breath of The Mother that he was holding in his hand, and he was filled with awe and humility. Before his eyes, Aoshi Shinomori had no doubt in his mind that he beheld the beauty and strength of the 'The Source', and that she had been well and truly mated to 'The One' was no longer an issue. For no other power on the face of the earth could have done any of the things he had just seen. _'He has risen.' _Were his humble thoughts. _'Cel has risen and is among us... at last, and my Slayer has been chosen to become his Mate... Blessed be the day of The Mighty Fang.'_

"Kaoru?" Aoshi spoke more urgently and reached for her shoulder which he grasped in a gentle but firm grip. "Kaoru, open your eyes, girl... you're brother... he lives."

"Sou...?" Bloody eyelids fluttered and then opened to reveal wounded blue ponds of pain and contrition. "H-he lives? Bewildered disbelief was etched into her lovely features as she urgently searched her superiors calm reassuring face. "Soujiro's alive... he didn't die?"

"_Nu_, Kaoru. See for yourself, you saved him. You saved him... just as I knew you could." Wounded blue sapphires locked gazes with icy blue-green crystals and the power and truth of Aoshi's words stuck a cord within her thundering heart. "You healed him, Kaoru... you healed him with your gift of the White Power."

"How, how did you know I could do that, Aoshi? I didn't know it was within me to do it." Real tears began to wash down her bloody cheek's further smearing the crimson stain along her pale skin. "How could you possible know?"

"Because," He answered quietly as he took her hand between his and locked gazes with her once more. "When the 'power' kept reaching out from you to protect you from us when there were those who would touch you or address you in anger, I realized _'who_' you must be and with _'whom_' you your blood-bond must exist with." Kaoru's eye grew wide as she looked into the calm of Aoshi's sharp features. "It is '_Him_'... isn't it?" The question was asked with so much reverence and respect that Kaoru could feel the lump of emotion growing in her throat as it threatened to choke her. It is 'The Mighty Fang' who has taken you as his Mate... Kaoru?"

"_Desigur_..." Her voice shook with the effort to speak as the emotions and turmoil of the last few hours began to take their tole on her. "It is _'He'_." And as Aoshi's eyes widened in further understanding and wonderment, Kaoru's gaze dropped to the painfully still form of her brother lying in the young Major's lap and she fell upon him weeping in relief. "Oh Sou," She sobbed. "Forgive me... please, forgive meee..." Trembling hands clutched at his shirt as she buried her face against the even rise and fall of his chest. "I never meant this to happen... I didn't know it would happen... I'm sorry for everything... so damn sorry."

Across the room, still leaning up against the wall he had so recently been slammed into, Hiko lay stunned and speechless within the haven of his beloved's embrace. Aoshi's words had reached his ears easily and he had heard every word the young Major had exchanged with his daughter. Maggie's arms had tightened around his shoulders as she too listened to the marvel that it was her own child who had become mate to 'The One', and that it was her blood that had been blessed with the power to free him from his bonds and wake him from his 'false sleep' so that he might rise and become the wielder of the power of Pythagoras.

"Hiko..."She began hesitantly. "Kaoru..." Maggie could hardly form words as the emotional impact that her daughter was 'The Source' began to settle into her shell shocked mind. "She's... she's..."

"She's 'The Source', Maggie." Slowly, painfully, Hiko lifted himself out of his wife's arms and sat up on his own. "Our arrogant, self-centered, opinionated daughter had been chosen by 'The Fate's' to be the one to free 'Cel' from his bonds." A gentle hand touched his face and he turned to look into the deep blue eyes he loved so much, and managed a weak smile to reassure the worried expression he read there. "I'm all right,_ lubti._" He said gently and tenderly kissed the palm of that much adored hand. "At least now I understand why the Moon nearly tore my head off for trying to 'reach' through her shield and mentally throttle her. She's been blood-bonded and mated to 'The Fang of Pythagoras. It's a wonder I have fang one left in my foolish head....I should have known, I should have realized... the enormity of power I sensed around her. It could have only had one source." _'Sweet little Jasmine Flower... what wonders have you seen in the last night of your existence as a single entity, and what more have you seen since bonding with this all powerful man?'_

"I don't understand, Hiko." Maggie's worried eyes looked back across the room at the huddle mass of three that still sat unmoving on the floor. "How did this happen? Why did her Mate's shield hurt you and Soujiro? It's never happened before. In all the millennia of our people no one has ever been physically injured or attacked by the 'essence' of a Mate's shield. Why did this happen to you and Soujiro?"

"If I were to try and put a reasonable summation behind what happened, Maggie, I would have to say that 'The Fang' is violently protective of what is 'His'." The elegant black brows over Hiko's deep green eyes furrows slightly as he considered his own explanation. "It would appear he is also very possessive as well as protective."

"_Desigur,_" She nodded her head in agreement. "The ferocity of the attacks upon you and Sou are proof enough to that. But what I do not understand is _why_ were they so ferocious and vicious? The violence was... frightening, to say the least." Maggie shuddered delicately as she recalled the sound Hiko's body had made when it struck the wall with so much force.

"And deadly." Her husband replied as the memory of his son's piercing scream filled his mind. "Very deadly." Reaching out to his anxious wife, Hiko took her hand in his as he tried to make sense of the puzzling behavior and manifestations they had just witnessed. "It would seem to me," He began tentatively taking into consideration everything he knew about 'Cel' from the Archives and from Prince Crede and filtering it through his sense of logic. "That one of 'Cel's' first priorities would be the safety of his Mate and making certain she was as well protected away from his side as he could keep her. His shield around her is obviously highly sensitive to the moods and actions of those around her and immediately perceived Soujiro and myself as potential threats"

"Threats? But neither of you meant to harm her. You were only angry... albeit Sou was much angrier than you by far, but still it was only anger that was leading him to her. Not blood-rage or murder."

"Perhaps not, but each of us was seen as a potential threat to her well-being and dealt with accordingly." _'We are BOTH lucky to be uninjured and alive... a lessor Vampire than myself would have been crushed and broken by that blow against the wall, and Soujiro... Dear God, Soujiro... He should be dead."_

"How is that?" She gently brushed the white hair off this face and listened intently to his voice as he tried to explain.

"I believe I was perceived as only a minor or moderate threat, perhaps just another 'male' who was sniffing around somewhere I didn't belong and simply thrust aside, but Soujiro was intending upon touching her and forcing her to 'submit' to his anger and possibly hurt her in the process." Dark green eyes met deep blue and Hiko saw the terrible understanding reflected back at him as Maggie finally grasp the concept he was trying to explain. "He was considered much more dangerous and was dealt with swiftly and without mercy."

"He was a physical threat..." Maggie's voice was strained as the concept his home and the potential danger to anyone who dared approach Kaoru with unseemly attentions would be in finally registered as a solid idea in her mind. "He was looked upon as a potential enemy and someone who might do her bodily harm."

_"Desigur_," Hiko nodded. "And she had to be protected... at all costs."

"The Blood..." Maggie whispered. "The shield of 'His' blood... it 'reached' out and struck Soujiro down in defense of his Mate. It intended to kill him... didn't it?" Her eyes were wide with astonishment and a tinge of fear colored her voice. None of them were prepared for this turn of events.

"That is what I believe." Slowly the large man struggled to his feet only to find himself grabbing for the wall behind him as a wave of dizziness washed over him. As he swayed on his feet, Maggie slipped her arm around his waist and lifted up on his large frame in an effort to support him until the event passed and he found his own balance. "Thank you." Was his simple statement, though his face said much more as he favored her with loving smile. "I don't know what I would do without you, my dear."

"Are you all right now?" She asked, still concerned as she noticed how pale he was and the grimace of pain that twitched at his mouth. "You hit the wall very hard, Hiko. Do you feel like anything is broken?" Maggie watched carefully as he flexed each arm, each shoulder, and then his back and hip joints.

"_Nu_, _lubit_. I seem to be fine other than a few sore muscles and new understanding that there is someone out there much more powerful than I can ever hope to become." A soft laugh escaped him at that moment, and Maggie offered a small smile. "I'm not the biggest dog in the yard anymore, Maggie." She offered an indulgent smile as another soft laugh trickled over her lips.

"_Nu_, _simpatie, _it would appear not." Standing on the balls of her small feet, Maggie rose tenderly kissed his cheek and then his smiling mouth. "But you are still the 'Leader' among our people, and you are still '_my_' big dog." He tossed his head back and laughed as he pulled her close to him and hugged her.

"I love you, Maggie. God was kind when he gave you and the children to me. I thank him everyday."

"I love you too, Hiko." Her face found its way into the hollow of her throat despite her shortness of stature compared to her mountain of a husband. "I thank God everyday that he brought you to us. You have been the kindest and most loving husband a woman could ask for... and a firm even handed father who taught his children well."

"Hmmmm... that remains to be seen." He pulled away from her and looked down into her brilliant blue eyes. "We need to go see to them, _simpatie_. It is not Aoshi's place to comfort OUR children."

"Nu, it is not, but I for one, will be eternally gratefully that he was here. If he had not been..." The unspoken words hung in the air as a heavy reminder of what could have been if the young Major had not recognized what was happening when he did and rushed to Soujiro's aid. "How do you think he knew?" Maggie cast a questioning glance into her husbands thoughtful face.

"That Kaoru was 'The Source' and we were being attacked by her Mate's shield?" She nodded and they began to make their way painfully toward the huddled mass of three. "He has always been very intuitive and could 'sense' many things the rest of us could not. He is even better at it than I am... it's a gift he has."

"You're saying that he 'sensed' 'The One' on Kaoru?" Maggie sounded incredulous.

"_Nu_, not exactly 'The One' himself, but I think once he got a good whiff of that power he knew there could be only one source for it." _'The boy has a nose for power and energy shifts... leave it to him to be the one to figure it all out while I was being the thickheaded bellowing father. Sigh.'_

"'Cel'."

"_Desigur_, 'Cel'. And then I'm sure he did the only thing he could think of... he addressed the power of the shield directly and begged it to stop." Beside him Maggie nodded in agreement as she leaned into the strength of her husband.

"It would seem that is what must have happened because the power only struck Soujiro once."

"_Desigur_, but as it was, that one blow was killing him regardless... until Kaoru touched him." A furrow of confusion once more wrinkled Hiko's smooth brow as he pondered upon that fact_. 'How did she heal him? What was that white light coming from her hands? Why did her eyes and throat bleed? Is she evolving the same as the man who has become 'Cel' must have had to in order to accept the power thrust upon him?'_ These questions plagued his mind as they approached the three individuals still occupying the floor. Slowly he knelt down beside Aoshi, pulling Maggie with him. Kaoru's hoarse anguished sobs tore through him like a sword splitting him asunder, and he leaned over the unconscious body of his son to tenderly stroke the back of her head with one of his large hands.

"Little Jasmine Flower," He whispered gently and felt her start beneath his hand. "It would appear many things have changed since you departed my sight last evening, _nu_?" She grew very still beneath his tender ministrations and her breathing turned into tiny gasps and catches as she listened to the deep reassuring tone of his voice. "I said 'Good-bye' to an arrogant conceited Slayer who has long thought too much of herself despite my best efforts to instill within her the morals and ethics of our needing each other in order to survive."

"Pa-pa..."

"I have long feared you would meet your demise outside of these walls and I would never know you were gone other than losing touch with your blood. I would never know what happened to you, and my heart would forever grieve for the little girl whose sweet smile I have grown to miss so much... but providence it seems is good, and has delivered you back into my hands unharmed it would appear... but changed none the less." Tentatively Kaoru rose from her place on her brother's chest and warily met her father's dark green gaze. The blood of her tears was all but gone having been washed away by her real tears and the front of Soujiro's shirt, but a dark streak of crimson remained sliding down from the wounds in her throat to the cleavage between her breasts.

"You have come home to me wrapped in the Mate's Shield of 'The One' himself... and with powers growing inside of you that I can only imagine." A paternal smile of pure pride curved his usually stern mouth and he cupped her moist cheek in his hand. "My daughter... 'The Source'... How proud I am, and stunned that it was I who raised the one whose blood would be 'The Key' that freed 'Cel' from his bonds, and then become his Mate."

"Y-you're proud o-of me?" Kaoru trembled beneath the touch of her father's hand and as her eyes filled with the pain and shame of her inner guilt, more tears spilled over her thick lashes. His smiling face blurred before her glaze as her heart was filled with the agony of her inner turmoil. "But Papa..." She struggled to speak through a throat tight with emotion. "I've d-done nothing for you t-to be p-proud of... not in the whole of my pathetic life."

"What do you mean by that, Kaoru? I have always been proud of you... if not a little worried that you insisted on doing everything alone. I was more frightened at times than anything else. I didn't want to lose you... and not because you were the finest Slayer we had, but because you were my child." Kaoru dropped her head and her shoulder's began to shake with quiet sobs, and when she spoke it was in a hushed and pain filled tones.

"I have been the most disrespectful child. I never listen to what you or Mamma tell me, and I scoff at the wisdom's you would share with me. I am the most difficult of your Slayer's to control. I fight with my comrades, I ignore orders, I argue with my superiors..." She cast a furtive look at Aoshi and found him with his head down simply listening to her and not interfering. "I am pompous and rude... I have despised everyone because I have convinced myself I am better than all of them and I don't need them... I have placed myself above everyone and looked down on them as if they were dirt beneath my feet... I have never valued another life save my own... I have never believed in anything or anyone save myself..." She stopped and drew a ragged breath before going on. "I may be the best Slayer you have, Papa... but I am also the worst, because by doing everything alone, and refusing to work with any of the others... I put them in danger as well as myself. I am a poor warrior. You should be ashamed of me... I am." Her head drooped and her hands folded in her lap making her look like a small child instead of a fierce assassin. "I have brought more shame to the names of 'Kamiya' and 'Seijuro' over the decades than my pride is worth. I am a poor daughter."

"Kaoru..." Hiko's voice was hoarse and tight with emotion as he tried to reach for his daughter but she backed away from him and refused to be touched.

"_Nu_, Papa... There are things you must know... things that must be told... things that must be said, and I am the one who must say them." She lifted her head and allowed their gazes to lock briefly and then she was looking down again. "I have been heedless of your teachings and those of my Commander, I have mocked your orders to travel with a back-up or a weapon because I believed I was too good to need either, and... and last night... last night I nearly died for my recklessness."

"Kaoru!" Her name was a chorus of frightened anxiety from the three conscious people facing her, and though it was concern and fear she felt radiating off of them instead of recriminations, she still refused to meet their alarmed looks. Instead, she simply continued in her quiet humiliated telling of the incident.

"I was... careless." She swallowed hard as she admitted her mistake. "I allowed myself to be cornered inside a short dead-end ally by several policemen. I was greatly out numbered especially with all of the guns and 12 gauges they brought with them." The level of concern around her peaked and began to teeter on the edge of distress. She began to feel cornered and suffocated beneath the weight of their emotions, and her words dwindled to a halt.

"How many?" Aoshi's voice was calm and insistent as he asked the question. He decided it was time for the debriefing to begin and put an end to her self recriminations. _'You have debased yourself enough, My Lady...' _He thought in humility. _'The forgiveness of your soul is not ours to do... but your own.'_

"Eight." Her mother moaned and began to cry. "I thought I could bait and mock their emotions until they made a mistake so I could get past them, but it didn't happen that way. Their Leading Officer... he was quite intelligent and seemed to know what I was trying to do. He positioned the rest of his men so I had no way out. Then I killed one of them... after that, things got very bad for me. They all went sort of 'gun happy' on me because I'd killed on of their own..."

"Understandable."

"_Desigur, _Major, it was understandable... I'd like to think I would have felt the same way if it had been one of 'us'."

"What happened next?"

"They loaded up, came down the ally... and started shooting into the dark. You see, the whole of the ally was pitch black and they couldn't see me, but I could see them... there was no where for me to go. All I could I could do was duck, dodge, and jump as fast as I could and hope for the best."

"You must have gotten hurt?" He gasped in shock. "You couldn't have been able to dodge that many bullets... WERE you hurt? Kaoru? _Were you injured?_" Aoshi's voice had taken on a note of incredulity as he reached out to her and grasping her, wrist he felt her trembled beneath his touch. "What happened?"

"They shot me up... mostly nicks and grazes, although, some of them were pretty deep, but the worst was I took a 9mm right through the meat of my right side. I was bleeding all over the place, and I still didn't have a way out." Her voice dropped to a lower tone, and the look in her eyes changed to something unreadable as the terrible memories resurfaced. "I knew I was going to die."

"But you didn't die, Slayer." Aoshi squeezed her hand in reaffirmation that she was indeed alive. "You survived. I just want to know how. Tell me how you lived through that Kaoru. Tell me how you lived through it without a single scratch to show for it."

As her eyes searched his face, Kaoru fell into silence her lips twitching with the words she knew she had to say. "They regrouped and four of them tried to rush me. I ended up killing two more of them and splitting up the rest... there was blood and the stink of death everywhere and I knew I was fighting for my life, but ... I was out of strength, I was finished. I couldn't go one more step." Her head drooped for a moment and then she was looking right into Aoshi's stunned icy blue gaze. "That's when it happened."

"What happened?"

"_'He_' came... he just appeared out of the gun smoke like a wraith in the night and killed the officer who was about to blow my head off... just like that... broke his neck and it was over. The other policemen scurried off likes rats leaving a sinking ship. They didn't even try to stand up to him, not one of them." Dark blue eyes misted over and filled with a deep unspoken emotion that made Aoshi feel like he might blush. "And then he came to me, picked me up like I was a little girl... and he... we..." Her voice trailed off and her face went slightly blank as the memories filtered through her mind.

"'He' what? What did he do, Kaoru?" The Major's tone was becoming more urgent as the telling of this tale became more fantastic by the moment. The vision of the bloody battle scene was laid out in infinite detail before his mind's eye, and he was horrified and amazed beyond belief. He had to know what happened next.

"He... he jumped, Aoshi. He jumped straight up in the air and landed on top of the building we were standing next to... it had to be over sixty feet, maybe seventy... and he took it like he was playing hop-scotch." Not one sound was emitted from her father, who was staring at her in complete shock, nor from her superior officer, who was sporting much the same look. It was her mother who finally found the words to speak and break the stunned silence.

"No effort at all?" She asked in a subdued voice than was nothing like her usual self.

"_Nu_, Mamma... no effort whatsoever, and then he was leaping from rooftop to rooftop taking me across the city. Effortless... it was like being in the arms of an Eagle." A tremor ran through Kaoru's body and gooseflesh appeared on her forearms. "It was... glorious."

"Where did you go, _lubit_? Where did he take you?"

"To his apartment across the city."

"Apartment!?" Hiko finally found his voice and blustered loudly over than revelation. "Who the hell is this guy if he has an apartment?" Confusion bloomed across his concerned features and a blush of outrage started to form on his pale cheeks. Then he was reaching into himself and slamming an iron fist down on top of his burgeoning emotions before they got the better of him. _'Calm down, old boy,' _He told himself firmly. _'You don't want to end up plastered against the wall again do you? Calm down... let her explain this time before you go getting all bent.'_

"He's a Homicide Detective in the police force, Papa." Kaoru's dark blue eyes met and held her father's dark green eyes as she rushed onward to explain exactly _WHO_ her Mate was and why he took her where he did. "He took me there so he could take care of my wounds. He was afraid I was going to bleed to death before he could do anything about it." She watched in relief as Hiko's scowl lessened and he nodded his head in acknowledgment. "He is kind, gentle Papa, and he's a good man... an honorable man. What happened between us later was meant to be. It was beyond either of us to deny the pull we felt toward each other. It was Fate..." Again Hiko nodded and seemed to accept her explanation, and Kaoru breathed an inner sigh of relief. At least that part of the telling was past. "He is also a lot like you, Papa."

"Eh? How is that?"

"He can be more stubborn and thick headed than I am when it comes to certain things. And he definitely has an arrogant side when it comes to me." Her eyes clouded angrily as she divulged this piece of information about her beloved.

_"Like_?" Hiko's eyes narrowed slightly as the 'father' in him raised its head.

"He thinks I should be carrying a gun or a knife or something when I go out on patrol so that I'll have more protection if I ever get out numbered again like I did last night." The frustration in her voice was heavy and easily heard as was the underlying mutiny that was and had been so much a part of her personality for such a long time.

"Hmmmm," _'Smart boy...' _"Well, he's right. I've been trying to get you to take your sword for years... we can see how well you listen to me." Hiko snorted with derision and was rewarded with a glare of impatience from his daughter.

"Papa..." Kaoru's voice filled with exasperation as she gave him a look that said, I've-heard-this-before as she tossed her ebony locks over her shoulder in agitation.

"Well, I have."

"I know, I know... he was just a little more... persuasive."

"How's that?"

"He ordered me to obey... because I was his Mate." Aoshi smothered a grin behind his hand. The look on her face told him how well THAT had gone over, and he almost wished he had been a spider on the wall to have witnessed that particular engagement of words. _'Don't like being on the other end of the stick, eh Slayer?' _He mused with a particular feeling of satisfaction. _'Finally met your match so it would seem.'_

__"That is his right, Kaoru..." Hiko began to explain, but she cut him off with an angry snarl as he began to defend her Mate's actions.

"But we weren't mated yet, Papa. He's... he's just got this thing."

"Thing?" One thin black eyebrow arched questioningly. "What 'thing'?"

"He thinks I'm all sweet, weak, and feminine... like I can't take care of myself anymore. He treats me like a... like..." She struggled to find the word she wanted.

"Like a woman?" Her mother's gentle voice intruded into her frustrated thoughts and she turned to look into the deep blue gaze so much like her own and nodded in frustration. "That's something you've never experienced before, is it, little _lubit_. A man, treating you like a woman... a woman he loves, _nu_? He does love you, _desigur_?"

"_Desigur_, Mamma... He loves me." Immediately her anger disappeared only to be replaced by a dull ache around the region of her heart as she realized she was missing him already. The look on her face said as much as well as her eyes took on a faraway longing look that told all those around her there was no doubt her feelings for this man were real.

"Do you love him, _lubit_?"

"_Desigur_, Mamma... with all that I am." Her mother smiled and nodded her head. "Then you will have to put up with his behavior... a man who loves a woman who loves him is always fiercely protective of that relationship. Especially once they are mated and blood-bonded as you have been. He would fight to the death to keep you by his side, and he would willingly die that you might live." Kaoru's chin trembled as emotion once more assailed her heart. She knew what her mother was saying was true. Kenshin would fight to the death for her, and he would die for her... but would she do the same for him? _'Would I?'_

__"How did your wounds heal, Slayer?" Once more Aoshi was the Major performing his debriefing and Kaoru's gaze shifted back to him as he pulled her back to task. "If you were as grievously wounded as you say, why are you not in pain or in need of medical attention?" A bright blush crept up to stain the girls cheeks and Aoshi suddenly felt as if he shouldn't have asked her that particular question.

"When we... um, when we... when we exchanged blood, all my wounds healed themselves. There aren't even any marks or scars to show where they were."

"Astonishing." Hiko shook his head in wonderment as another of 'Cel's' gifts to his daughter came to light. "He must be an amazing creature... truly amazing."

"He is, Papa... more amazing than you can believe, but there is something you have to know about him." Her face took on an all too serious look that had Hiko feeling a shaft of worry thrusting through his vitals.

"Hmmm? You make it sound very dire, Kaoru." She nodded emphatically and moved nearer to him.

"It... it could be when it comes to whether the people accept him or not."

"Accept him?" Hiko snorted and waved one of his large hands in the air all but dismissing her statement. "That goes without saying. Of course they will accept him, he is 'Cel'."

"Papa..." Her voice remained serious and even began to take on a note of earnestness. "It isn't that simple. He's half human, he's a _daywalker._" Kaoru watched carefully as her father digested this information. She could see on his face the same confusion she had felt when she had learned of Kenshin's parentage. "It is true, He is the Grandson of Prince Crede... Thayoden's youngest and only surviving son... but with a human female. He is not full 'Pure Blood, Papa."

"How can this be?" Jumbled thoughts of chaos and indecision leapt back and forth through Hiko's mind as he tried to fathom the magnitude of this revelation. "I don't understand... I..." He looked at Kaoru in shock and bewilderment. "A half-breed is 'Cel'? Our 'Savior' is... is of impure blood?"

"_Desigur_, Papa..." She nodded carefully. "But he is _not_ impure. He is both a _Nightstalker_ and a _Daywalker_. He is the only one among any of us who can stand in the light and the shadow of both worlds." She scooted over closer to her brothers body and reached for her fathers arm. "He is the one who can cross the barrier of the light...and survive unharmed."

"The Prophecy..." Soujiro's weak voice wafted up to his father and his sister and they both looked down into his groggy face in astonished relief, and Kaoru leaned over him to kiss his pale cheeks. "Remember... the Prophecy..."

"What about the Prophecy, Sou? What about it?" Her hands gently stroked her brother's pale face and brushed the dark hair out of his eyes. "Tell me... what do you remember? What do you want us to remember?"

"It says... 'Look for 'The One'... where the Dark World and ... and the World of The Living cross over in the light of the darkness.'" Soujiro slumped back against Aoshi as the effort of his short speech exhausted his small energy reserve, and Kaoru sat up looking at her father in confusion.

"What is he saying, Papa... where the worlds cross over int the light of the darkness? What does that mean?"

Hiko sat unmoving as he stared into the face of his son trying to read the meaning of those words within the glazed blue-gray eyes that stared back. _'What are you trying to say to us, Soujiro? What are you trying to make me see, my son? What....' _

"He was meant to be a _daywalker._" The quiet reverent tones of Aoshi's voice lifted to penetrate the cloud of Hiko's thoughts and the older male turned to look upon his blank face as a thought began to form in the back of his mind. "It says, 'Look for him where the two worlds cross over each other'. The only way he can stand in that place and be a part of both worlds is if he is both a _daywalker_ and a _nightstalker_... He must be 'half-breed' or he could not be what he is meant to be."

"Aoshi!" Kaoru's exclamation of disbelief made him shift and look at her. "How do you know that?"

"I... it is the only logical answer." He bent his head and looked into Soujiro's understanding eyes. "His position above the Clan's as 'First Leader' would force him to have to be able to do many things in order to bring them all together... and as you say, he is a detective on the police force. That gives him almost unlimited access to all sorts of computer records and files. He is a visible person, and obviously must remain so in order to gather the information we need on both species. 'The Clan's' and the 'Made'. It also gives him the advantage of moving about whenever he wishes instead of being confined during the day."

"That's right... that is exactly what he said himself." She turned to look at her father with wide eyes. "He doesn't want to be what he is, Papa. He doesn't want to be Vampire, but he has touched the face of 'The Mother' and heard her voice inside of his soul... he cannot deny _who_ or _what_ he is, and has accepted what he must do." Once more her hand reached out and touched Hiko's arm. "He is a proud man, but not arrogant or self-serving. He is kind, and filled with the knowledge of the Ancient World... I have seen it... I-I have tasted it in his blood, and felt it rushing inside of my own. He is more powerful than any of us ever imagined, and he has yet to achieve his full self."

"He is not... whole yet?" Hiko looked astonished by Kaoru's revelation.

"_Nu_, Papa, he is not finished evolving, but soon I am sure." Wide blue eyes filled with entreaty tried desperately to convey the message that was in her heart to the proud man before her. _'Please understand, Papa... please, he needs you... he needs you most of all.'_

"What have you seen, Kaoru? What of his powers have you seen?"

"He is powerful, Papa." Her voice was straining to tell him everything. "His physical strength and speed are unmatched by any of us... or any 'Made' I have ever seen. He can move faster than my eyes can follow." Hiko's face took on a look of wonderment and he slowly nodded for her to continue. "He heard the cries of my blood within his heart and soul before we were bonded... that is how he found me in the ally. That is how he came to be there... and he was transformed into 'Cel' when he arrived."

"Transformed?" Hiko was completely confused. "What do you mean 'transformed'?"

"'Cel' is not his true form... he is human, Papa."

"Ohh, I see." An odd look of acquiescence crossed the older males face and he dropped his gaze from her face and looked into his son's trusting eyes. "Continue."

"He can 'reach' back and touch the knowledge of the Ancient's with his mind and soul. He can cross from one plane of consciousness to another with a thought..."

"Stop!" Hiko stared hard at his daughters face as he tried to fathom what she was saying. "What do you mean by 'one plane of consciousness to another'?" His gaze flickered warily to touch the icy blue-green of his second in command and then came back to his daughters dark blue. "What are you saying?"

"He took me to 'The Mother's Womb' this morning, Papa."

"He wha..." Hiko and Aoshi's faces became masks of disbelief and shock as they looked into her now serene face, but before they could say another word between them, another voice broke the tense silence.

"You... you were in the 'White Void'?" Soujiro struggled to reach his sister's arm and she turned back to him gently taking his hand. "You saw the world with no sky and grasses of green? You were there?"

"_Desigur_, my brother. I was there. It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen, and it is filled with the peace of all the ages." He smiled and squeezed her hand as a lone tear slipped from his eye and trickled down his temple. "He is Glory itself, Sou... The most beautiful creature you will ever lay eyes on."

"Tell me... tell me what he looks like." Smiling fondly, she kissed her brothers cheek and wiped at his tears. "I want to know."

"His hair is the color of flames; red, gold, yellow and it grows to reach clear to his knees until he looks like he is made of fire when he leaps through the air. His eyes are great golden lanterns that cast off their own light in the darkness, and shimmer like crystals in the light, and his fangs are long. Longer than any you have ever seen. They look more like daggers in his mouth than teeth, and his nails transform into long eagle talons that could cut a man in half with one swipe yet he is gentle as a mother with her new born when he touches me."

"Extraordinary. And his human form?"

"Just as beautiful." Dreamy blue eyes caressed Soujiro's face as all of the love Kaoru felt for this amazing man filled her heart. "His hair is shorter... it reaches his waist, and though it is still a fiery red, it is not quite as brilliant but beautiful none the less. His eyes are the color of spring violets, and his face is almost pretty enough for him to pass as a girl, but not quite."

"A girl, eh?" A light laugh slipped out of Sou's aching chest as he tried to picture the man Kaoru described. "Is he a large man?" He asked. "Tall like Father?"

_Nu_," Kaoru giggled. "He is actually quite short... only a few inches taller than me, and he's quite slender built, though that doesn't seem to deter his strength any."

"Doesn't sound quite like your type, Kao... at least not what I thought it would be once you finally got around to looking for a Mate."

"He's not... but The Fate's are far wiser than I. I could never have loved anyone else. Never. He is my soul, I would die without him beside me now." The siblings shared a rare smile and Kaoru leaned over her brother to gently kiss his face. "You will love him, Sou."

There is much to do," Hiko's voice interrupted. "We must prepare the people for his arrival... He is coming isn't he?" Hard green eyes tried to penetrate into Kaoru's mind but he was not foolish enough to try and penetrate her shield again.

"_Desigur_, Papa... I do not know when, but He is coming."

"When will you see him again?" The impatience of a true Leader looking for the time needed to prepare his people for the long awaited coming was evident in his voice, but there was more there as well. He needed to prepare them for a 'Savior' who was not entirely 'Pure Blood', and that was not going to be a simple undertaking. He needed time.

"Tonight... If all goes well, I will see him tonight." The wistful tone in her voice brought smiles to the faces of all four of the people setting around her.

"Very well, daughter." Hiko squeezed her hand and gave her a reassuring look. "Tell him I need time."

"Time, Papa?" Kaoru looked confused and worried. "What for?"

"To prepare the people, Kaoru. If I was that taken a back to find out 'Cel' was not a complete 'Pure Blood', we must consider what the people will think. _Nu_?" He met her gaze steadily and saw that she understood. "I will need some time to do that."

"I will tell him, but Papa..."

"Hmmm?"

"He may not stay away even for that." Hiko scowled at this revelation as he struggled to his feet.

"And why not?"

"I told you." She shrugged noncommitally. "He's stubborn about certain things, and he's taking this 'I'm the New Leader' thing very seriously. He may not give you any time. He may come and present himself to the people on his own."

"Damn," Hiko raked a hand through his thick long white hair in frustration. "I suppose there is not much I can do about that. It is his right... isn't it?" Green eyes locked with knowing blue. "After all, he is 'The Fang of Pythagoras'... not me."

**Review Responses:**

**Nguardian:** I love your reviews. You always make me feel good about myself and what I've written. Saitou is the greatest bad-guy. He's suave, ruthless... and handsome as hell. I love Saitou. And yes, when I put Kenshin in Glasses... I giggled the whole time. It was great. Thanks girly. God Bless.

**Aqua-chan:** Thank-you. I don't know if anyone has ever give me an actual 'thumbs up' before. I appreciate it. And I'm flattered to go on your favorites. Hope you keep reading.

**Paisita:** Oh I love to see you in my reviews!! And I promise. I will try to keep working on the story. I've just been having some depression problems lately... and haven't felt like working on my fics. My health has been waning again... but I am feeling much better, so I'm trying to get back on track. God bless you for hanging around. KnT

**psychotic-catster:** My fav. Little Crazy Girl! You rock baby! I think I might finish it just for you... I love you baby... Sorry I grossed you out... sorta. LOL And no, you shouldn't complain. You should no me by now... I never take anything half-way. Take care and God bless. I look forward to seeing you... I always do. KnT

**BelleDayNight:** Oh my lovely Belle! I know how much you love Sano. And I really am trying to give him a major role in this fiction. And knowing how much you love Saitou... well, I was a little worried you might be upset I made him the bad guy. But he's a bad guy you love to hate. Gorgeous and evil all at once. :) God Bless, my dear friend.

**unknown beedee:** When do I see a new story from you, young lady?? Sorry about making Saitou evil... but somebody cool had to do it. :) Love ya, kiddo.

**Luraia Soul:** Thank you for the amazing compliment! WoW! I hope I can keep up to your expectations. God Bless, and thanks for taking the time to review. It means a lot. Hope to hear from you again.

**De Lazy Lime:** I know you love the LIMEY... but you know how bad AFF has been lately. I will still be posting the unedited version over there... when I can. :) Thank's for your prayers and your friendship, girl. I love ya back. Take care. Hope to see you soon. God Bless, KnT

**_Thank you to everyone who is reading my new fiction. Please drop me a few words and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you. Until later... God Bless, and happy reading. Kanzen ne Tsuki_**


	11. Playing A Part

**Reveiw Response at the end of the Chapter.**

For everyone who thought they got left out of the last review response, you have my deepest apology. I had uploaded the new chapter to Media Miner with all of the current Responses including the ones for AFF on it. When I uploaded the chapter to AFF it was an older version with only the responses to the readers on I recently re-uploaded the chapter with the newer version so that the updated review responses are there. Once more, I apologize to everyone who thought I missed them or left them out. It was my error caused from posting on so many different sites. KnT

Chapter Eleven

Playing A Part

New York City: 56th and Wilshire

Monday Morning, 10:22 a.m.

April, 2004

Characters:

Kenshin Himura: Captain, Homicide Detective

Sanosuke Sagara: Sargent, Homicide Detective

Megumi Takani, Coroner, New York County

"EEEWWWW! Yuck!" Sano turned and spit on the rocky pavement as he and Kenshin approached the bloody crime scene that had been cordoned off by yellow police tape. "What a mess."

"No kidding." Kenshin glared at his partner over the top of his glasses as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out pad and paper. "What were you expecting? A walk through the Queen's court?"

"Well, no... not exactly, but you coulda warned me before we got here, ya know." That earned him another scathing look that had him holding his big hands up in front of him like a shield as he tried to ward off his partners obvious anger. "Sorry, sorry... my mistake."

"No shit." Kenshin grumbled as they ducked under the tape. "You need to looked sufficiently surprised, you idiot. If I had told you what to expect, you wouldn't have been able to pull it off."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Cap."

"No problem, Partner... what are friends for?" Sano leveled a sardonic gaze of pure 'go to hell' at his red headed friend who simply took it in stride and led the way over to the first of the four bodies which had been covered with a white sheet.

"No blood?" Sano cast a questioning gaze at Kenshin.

"Simpson... no battle wounds. His neck is broken."

"Oh." A delicate shudder quaked through the big man as his partner knelt beside the shrouded body and lifted the corner of the sheet. Tony Simpson's large brown eyes stared sightlessly into oblivion a slightly surprised and dazed look frozen in their bottomless depths. The same look of surprise was reflected on the features of his face; his mouth somewhat askew as if he had been caught completely off guard.

He had collapsed where he died and simply fell into an unnatural heap. His head lay at an awkward angle as opposed to the rest of his body giving him an unstrung marionette look to go with his crumpled arms and legs. Kenshin found his hands trembling slightly as he gazed into the face of a man he had never met, but whose life he was singularly responsible for taking. 'Cel' had murdered this man with extreme prejudice; without thought or remorse, and left him in the street for forensics to clean up. Something was wrong with this scenario. It wasn't supposed to turn out like this. The Police were not the enemy. The 'Made' were. An aching sense of guilt settled upon his shoulders and he bent slightly beneath the enormous weight.

_'This must never happen again.'_

__"Captain Himura. How nice of you to join us on this bright spring morning."

"Only you would be this happy this time of the morning in the middle of a mess like this, Doc." Amethyst eyes peered upward over the rims of gold-framed glasses and met the mocking brown eyes of the county coroner. "What the hell are _you _doing out here? Did they run out of cold ones for you to slice and dice so you had to come sniffing around the fresh ones?"

"Nay, I was just getting tired of missing out on all the fun you boys were having out here without me. So I thought I would come down myself and see what all the fuss was about. This is the work of your 'Pimp Killer' isn't it?"

"Don't know." His reply was short as he dropped the sheet and stood up to face the forensic specialist. "Haven't seen any neck wounds yet."

"Oh, I got a doosey for you over here. Just one thing though..."

"What's that?"

"The neck wound..."

"Um-hum?"

"It is the neck. The head's been completely torn off."

"Jesus." Sano covered his mouth as the unmistakable sound of an 'erp' was heard from behind his fingers. "Did you have to say that, Doc. I just had a muffin for Godsake."

"Suck it up, Sargent." Kenshin shot his partner an acrid look that told him this was not the place for his bullshit. "We got a job to do out here."

"No kidding, Cap... but could she be a little bit less... informative?"

"Oh, poor Sargent Sagara. Got a little bit of a weak tummy?" Dr. Megumi Tagani offered the dark-eyed, green-gilled detective one her best smiles while he glared daggers at her. "I've got some Dramamine in my car, sweetum's if you need some."

"Kiss my..."

"Sargent!" Kenshin's short reprimand caught Sano before he could finish his unprofessional retort, and the big man immediately pinched his lips together in response, but not before he mouthed the words, 'You're gonna get it later.' Megumi just winked and turned her back on the fuming detective and led the way to the next body.

It was Charlie Fuenttez.

He was only about three feet away from Simpson, but the sheet covering him was stained a hideous crimson all across the center mass of his torso. Megumi leaned over and lifted it off revealing a Hispanic man in his early thirties. His face looked much the same as Tony's. Frozen, filled with surprise, and completely dazed. But unlike Tony who didn't have a mark on him, Charlie was sporting a large fist sized hole just beneath his sternum. It went straight through his flack-jacket, uniform, and body tissue. The amount of blood covering him and pavement indicated it was definitely the cause of death.

"Shit!" Sano swallowed hard as he looked at the ragged opening in the mans body. "What the fuck happened to him?"

"Well, as best as I can tell, Detective." Megumi knelt down next to the body and indicated the wound with her right index finger. "Someone... or something shoved it's fist or some other round type object through all of his protective gear as well as his body, and then tore his heart out."

"Tore his heart out? Are you shittin' me?"

"No. We found the heart right over there by the body of Officer Simpson... fully intact."

"That is... quite remarkable, Doc." Kenshin looked down at the dead Policeman and once more felt the heavy weight of responsibility. She had been fighting for her life, but again, it should not have happened this way. This man should not be dead. He was not the enemy. "What kind of force can penetrate a vest and a body at the same time?"

"Something very strong, Captain."

"I understand that, Doctor Tagani. I am asking you if you have any ideas on what it might be." Penetrating violet crystals pierced into intelligent brown orbs and for a moment the two battled for supremacy, but at last power won out over stubbornness and the woman lowered her eyes.

"No, I don't. I don't have any idea what could be strong enough to punch a hole through both body armor and the flesh of a man, tear out the strongest organ in the body, and then just walk away. Besides that," Her face grew pensive and confused.

"What?" Kenshin knelt down opposite her so he could meet her gaze on her level.

"It had to have happened very quickly."

"What makes you say that?"

"It's a clean straight through wound. Straight in, straight out... and the look on his face shows he was caught completely off. He didn't know what hit him, Captain, and whatever it was, it took him out in a matter of seconds, not moments."

"I see your point, but a skilled martial artsman can punch through a man's chest and tear out his heart in a matter of seconds. Why is this so strange?" He was pushing her and he knew it, but he wanted every detail recorded. Everything he already knew was true.

"Strange? Are you blind and deaf? The kevlar you idiot! The kevlar!" She yanked open the strap of Fuenttez's flack and showed Kenshin and Sano the ragged yellow fibers peaking out of the gory opening. "Do you know of any martial arts guy who can punch through kevlar? If you do, I want to meet him."

"I get your point, Doc." Kenshin reached out and gently pulled her hand off the vest. "And I already knew what you were getting at."

"You did? Then what the hell did you make me go through all that for?"

"To make sure you knew what you were getting at." Her mouth clamped shut and her wide brown eyes locked hard with his violet ones. "You have to get every single fact, Doctor Tagani, especially in a freaked out case like this. If you don't, the DA will eat you alive, and they will sweep everything under the carpet." He watched as the light of understanding finally dawned in her eyes, and then she nodded her head.

"I guess that's why they call you the best, eh, Captain Himura? You don't let anyone get to you or drive you crazy with questions. You already know the answers before they can ask them." She sounded subdued from her earlier pique and Kenshin snorted under his breath.

"No, I'm the best because I drive everybody else crazy." Her head snapped up and she caught him favoring her with a half smile. "Details are my thing, Doc. Ask Sargent Sagara here. I reference everything, and then cross reference it so that there are no mistakes or misconceptions before I file my report. If I can't prove it, then it isn't true. Just like the kevlar."

"What do you mean?" She looked down at the ruptured vest. "What about the kevlar?"

"You are absolutely right." He used his pencil to point out key areas to her. "The edges are not frayed as if they were sawed, or melted, pulled apart, or even torn. They were abruptly severed; snapped if you will and only something with a tremendous amount of force behind it could do damage as specific as this. It was not sharp, but it may not have been necessarily blunt either. But it was powerful and it was moving very, very fast. The force and the speed itself literally snapped the fibers, separated the muscle and tissue, and provided enough momentum to tear the heart from its moorings before the weapon was removed." The tip of the pencil thumped on his pad of paper as he pondered the wound and the information. "It is not humanly possible to those things in that successive order or in the time frame you require. Do you agree?"

Megumi was astounded. For years she had heard rumors about this man, most of them bizarre and completely unrealistic. She had met him on several occasions, worked with him on a few obscure cases, rubbed elbows with him at Police and City functions, but had never had the opportunity to do anything complicated or in depth with him before. So when word came in about the mass murder from the night before, she had circumvented her entire staff just to get the chance to see him in action. Now she wasn't so sure everything she'd heard about him was as unrealistic as she had first believed. He was a Genius. He definitely had a very strange way of looking at evidence, but he was genius.

"I... I would have to, yes."

"Very good. What's next?" He jotted several things down in his note pad and then looked up into her astonished face expectantly. "There are two more bodies, yes?"

"Yes. This way."

They spent the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon examining the four bodies in the ally, cataloguing mountains and bags of evidence, and drinking gallons of coffee. By 1:30 pm Megumi was exhausted and wondering how the red-head kept up such a vicious pace without collapsing. One bewildered look at his stoic, handsome partner told her there was no use trying to figure it out, that was just the way it was. Get used to it.

"He's been like that ever since we were kids. He'll never change."

"You've known him since you were children?" She was incredulous. "You are kidding me, right?"

"Nope. Since we were little guys. I've always kept his back. It just stayed that way even after we got out of the Academy. We made a good team. Always have, probably always will. Nobody else can put up with his shit, and nobody knows him better than me. So, why screw with something that works, you know?"

"Well, he is strange, I'll agree with you there." _'And getting stranger by the minute.' _"I don't think I've ever met anyone so intense when it comes to his job... or facts and evidence. He's almost creepy the way he pieces through every little thing... and those glasses. They make him look like a little bug with big eyes."

Sano laughed and handed her a sandwich he had bought from the deli down the street. "Creepy isn't half of it, doc. You should see him with crime scene photo's and files... _that's _creepy. Sometimes he sets and stares and them for hours and doesn't even move. The guys in the office think he's part zombie or something. Whatever it is, they just don't think its natural for anybody to act that way."

Megumi smiled around her sandwich and wondered for the thousandth time if this guy was ever going to get off his ass and ask her out. He was always coming to the morgue to pick-up or drop off information, and she had been giving him signals for months. She had just about decided he was the densest man God had put on the Earth, and if he didn't do something soon, she was.

"Have to respect him though. He is good at what he does. I don't think I've ever seen anyone better. God knows it would be hard to miss anything with him around sniffing in every single crack and crevice."

"Yes, Ma'am. He's damn good." Sano let his brown gaze shift from the lovely features of his current romantic interest and let them fall onto the blazing red-head of his partner and best friend. There isn't anyone better than Kenshin. If there is an answer to be found for this shit, he'll be the one to find it." _'Too bad we already know what the answer is, huh Bud? God, how are we going to get through this thing knowing what we know?' _He sighed inwardly and wished deep within himself that this current dilemma didn't push Kenshin over the edge. Poor Sano, he didn't know how close to the truth he really was.

_'I did this... my hands did this. God help me! I'm a murderer. How do I... Can I live with this? Kaoru? Kaoru I need you. Where are you, my lubit? Come cradle my soul, help me... help me understand why I did this. How could I do this? These men are not our enemy! They are not our enemy... THEY ARE NOT OUR ENEMY!'_

As he leaned over the hood of his car, the raging agony of Kenshin/Cel's soul screamed upward into the cosmos of the elemental world leaving behind a trail of flaming pain and guilt that rocked the slumbering spirits of both the 'Pure Blood's' and the 'Made's' as it slashed through their dreams like a bloody sword. Over and over his mind flashed with the images of the four dead officers and their innocent blood that was pooled all over the ground. _'Perhaps they are not completely innocent.' _He thought as pain squeezed around his heart. _'But they are not the enemy of my people... our war is not with 'them'. Our war is with Uriel and his abominations. This cannot happen again! THIS CAN NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!'_

Amber-gold eyes turned to gaze skyward as the weight of his responsibility grew heavier and the breath hitched in his throat bordering on a growl. A shifting of molecules and chemical bonds rippled through his system, and Kenshin knew that the change was upon him. He would not be able to stay here with the investigation team any longer than he already had and he was risking discovery the longer he waited. Already the claws were tingling at the tips of his fingers and his fangs tickled the surface of his tongue. He was out of time, and so with a single pleading glance sent in Sano's general direction he allowed the growing strength of his powerful legs to silently blur him into the air surrounding him.

Just like that, Kenshin Himura disappeared without so much as a shift in the breeze.

The next thing Sano knew, Kenshin was gone. One minute he was leaning over the hood of their car examining plastic bags filled with physical evidence, and the next he was just... gone.

"What the hell?" The tall Sargent stood up and quickly walked over to the car and proceeded to look around. "Where did you go, Bud?" He muttered under his breath as he scanned the road and the ally-way not coming up with any answers. Planting his hands on his hips in frustration, he looked down at the plastic bags littered across the hood of the car wondering if the red-head had decided to follow-up on something; although he couldn't imagine what considering _they_ had all the facts.

As he turned away, something strange caught his eye and he leaned over to give it a closer look. It was a long thin scratch in the dark green paint. "Hey... where did that come from?" He reached out and ran his index finger along the scratch and then looked at whatever residue he might have picked up. Fine green paint shavings clung to the pad of his finger showing that the scratch was very new and that whatever had made was very sharp. "What the..." Sano wrinkled his brows trying to figure out how the scratch could have gotten on the hood when suddenly something very bizarre and frightening occurred to him.

_'Claws? Those claws he was sporting this morning... they looked sharp as hell.' _Once more Sano looked down at the strange scratch and took notice of its placement. Then he shifted his perspective and watched as the smear of a hand print showed up beneath the glare of the afternoon sun. _'Holy shit!' _The scratch lined up perfect with the index finger. A shiver ran down his spine as he realized why he couldn't find Kenshin, and his brown eyes filled with anxiety. _'You better not be flipping out on me, Buddy. You better be Ok wherever it is you went, and you fucking better be coming back. Dammit!'_

__Sano looked up at the dull afternoon sky and offered a little prayer inside his heart. _'Take care of him God. He's important to all of us... I know he sort of fucked up last night killing that guy and all, but there were extenuating circumstances. He could really use a break about now; he's a good guy, trust me, and he could use your help too. So could I. What do ya say?'_

Ellis Island/Manhattan Bay

6:10 pm, same day

He spent the day perched in a tree on top of one of the non-traditional skyscrapers that kept its own private garden on the roof. It was above the level of the smog and he could see clear to Brooklyn, Queens, and practically New Jersey. Up here the birds sang and played tag in the clear blue of the sky while butterflies flitted from one flower to the next; their colorful powdery wings catching the sunlight like beautiful hand painted Japanese screens. Fluffy white clouds lazily sailed across the endless blue ocean like monstrous sails on invisible ships, and he found himself wondering where they were going and if he might be able to catch a ride there.

_'Anywhere but here.' _Golden eyes narrowed beneath fiery brows as painful memories and unwanted emotions assailed his heart and soul. A mind that refused to rest or be quieted continued to brood and contemplate the crime scene he had investigated that morning, and every bloody detail remained perfectly imprinted upon his memory. __

_'I cannot do this.' _Clawed hands rose to rake vicious ly through flaming hair that hung in silken ropes around his body. _'I cannot shoulder this responsibility. I cannot bear up beneath the weight of the guilt and the pressure of my destiny... it is too much. I cannot... I am not ready. They are not ready. None of them understand the value of a human life, and they will not accept me. I should have seen this before... I should have thought of this before. I am half-human. Kaoru said it herself, I saw it in her eyes when she looked at me the first time she knew it. I was something...weak, unacceptable, unwanted. The clans will see me as the same thing only more so because I am supposed to be 'First Leader'.' _An angry growl rumbled deep inside of his chest and his eyes flared wildly.

_'Who are they to judge me? Who are they to judge anyone? Who are they to decide who or what is pure enough or strong enough to be valuable? They are prideful and arrogant. They are callous and too full of themselves.' _He leapt from the tree and snarled malevolently as a yet before unknown fury rose within him and began to burn inside his heart. _'If I must prove myself capable of leading... prove myself strong enough to lead, then so be it... but the line will be drawn now... it will be drawn tonight. Life is sacred; all life, and they will be made to see that, or I will die trying... then let them face the Holy War alone.' _

__And then he was throwing himself off the edge of the building and streaking through the air like a blazing comet. In moments he was back on the balcony of his apartment and walking through the glassdoor. Amber eyes glowed in the dimness of the room as he moved to the large shuttered bookcase, the light glinting of the glass panels. He opened the latches, reached inside and removed several items, closes the doors, and retreated to his bedroom.

A few silent moments later the arcadia doors opened once more and what sounded like the wings of a great bird filled the quiet, then it was gone. The curtain flapped gently in the evening breeze. He had forgotten to shut the door.

New York Time: 5:56 pm

The righteous anger of his grieving soul surged upward from Cel's core snarling and snapping its challenge to every 'Pure Blooded' mind it ripped across as it tore through the body collective of the clans. Children woke clawing their way free from their beds screaming their parent's names in terror. Families huddled together in corners and inside closets crying and wailing in confusion their eyes wild and unseeing. Seasoned Slayers and soldiers leapt from their bunks and posts weapons instantly ready for battle, and each leader in every colony was flooded with the knowledge that the time of waiting was finished and the time of blood had been born. Fear was born and all eyes turned to the American Coast.

Hiko Seijuro raced through his howling terrified colony with Aoshi and Kaoru hot on his heels. There were two things on his anxious frightened mind and he was going to need their help in both matters. One was trying to restore some semblance of peace and order to the rising panic and chaos. Second, attempt to explain why every terrified soul was seeing and hearing the same thing, and what it meant to them. Because inside of every mind's eye there was imprinted the same ferocious image of a man with blazing red hair and riveting golden eyes, and in each of their ears they all clearly heard the same words and the same voice.

_"Prepare yourselves. I am coming."_

Hundreds of thousands of 'Made' writhed and screamed on the floors of their crypts, dens, and rooms; each held their head in trembling hands as they tried to hold the vision at bay. The vision of blood, of fangs, of impending death. The vision of golden eyes and hair the color of volcano's flame, claws dripping with blood and the booming voice that echoed inside of their searing brains.

_"You are the enemy! You are the cause of all our woes! You are the reason innocent blood runs red upon the ground, and for this each of you will die with your heads upon the altar of my truth. I will crush your skulls in my hands and watch your bones turn to ashes in the sun. Your days are numbered and dwindling with the sands in the hourglass of doom. Justice is upon you... the day when darkness bleeds into light has awoken from the graves of the slain, and you are known to me. I see you. I am coming. War is upon you and you will perish."_

"What the hell is happening, Kaoru?"

"It's 'him', Papa. It's Kenshin."

"I figured that out for myself, Slayer." Glittering emerald eyes raked her pale concerned face as they raced through the compound. "What the hell is he trying to do? Kill us?"

"I... I don't know." The uncertainty in her voice brought Hiko up short and Aoshi nearly collided into the back of the big man. "YOU DON"T KNOW?"

"Nu, I don't know." Her face was a mask of worry and that hit the colony leader hard. "I can't 'reach' his mind through his emotions at the moment. It is as if he's lost touch with some part of himself, and... and he's slipped over the edge into a type of fury. I can't explain any better than that."

"What could have caused it, Kaoru?" Aoshi reached out to the confused girl and gripped her shoulder. "Why would he do that?"

"I'm not sure. The only thing I can think of is he had to go to work this morning."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Aoshi exchanged a bewildered look with his superior officer. "Why would his going to his job result in a deterioration such as this?"

"He... he's the Captain of Homicide, Major. He... he would have had to head up the investigation into the killings of the four policemen we dispatched last night." Her blue eyes grew round with grief and concern. "He killed one of them himself. He was protecting me, but the man died by his hands for no other reason. He has to investigate a killing he committed himself, and find another explanation for it, as well as the three I killed. I... he's a very honorable man, I think it may have proved more difficult that he thought it would be... even though it was Vampire business and self-defense, I don't think he is going to be able to look at it that way."

"That could be a problem."

"Is he nothing but a damn weakling to be losing control of himself over something like this?" Hiko muttered as he turned to walk away. "They were armed policemen, not bloody sacrifices. If he cannot control his emotions and powers better than this when faced with a crisis, he may be too weak to lead." Suddenly the irritated General found himself being thrown against the wall with considerable force and he gasped as much in surprise as he did in pain.

"How dare you!" Kaoru snarled, fangs snapping and eyes flashing liquid silver. "How dare you think you can judge what you do not know. How dare you speak of weakness when you have never seen his strengths. Tell me Papa, why does he look weak to you? He is the Almighty Fang sent to lead us into the fucking future. How can The Fang be 'weak'? Is he weak because he has no taste for the spilling of innocent blood, because he has a conscience, because he has 'human' qualities that make him one of _them_, or because he's a half-breed and not a full pureblood?" Hiko paled and watched in fascination as her fangs grew far beyond any length he had ever seen and a shiver of unexpected apprehension traveled up his spine.

"He's coming, Papa. He's coming here, and from what I can tell, he's pissed beyond reason. Obviously he doesn't like killing when there is no particular reason involved. Killing the humans was an event that should have never happened as a result of a fight that should have never taken place. As I recall, our fight is with the 'Made', not those pitiful mice, and that fact alone could have something to do with the level of his anger." Kaoru's eyes had gone almost translucent their shifting silver depths resembling the raging seas more than objects of vision, and as she leaned into her fathers position, he held his breath. "But if I were you, Papa, I think I'd re-evaluate my opinion of weakness before he gets here; otherwise, you could have a real problem on your hands."

"Are you threatening me... daughter?" Hiko cocked his head to one side and stared hard into Kaoru's face trying to ascertain what was all of a sudden going on inside of her head that would cause such a behavior change as well as the transformation in her appearance. _'It's his blood...' _He realized with a start. _'It's the blood inside of her that is doing this. Dear God, is she going to turn on me because I have questioned her mate's ability to lead? Has his blood so completely claimed the whole of her that it has changed her like some sort of mutated infection? Am I looking into the face of the future or the mask of our demise? Prince Crede? What is happening to us? Help us, My Lord... The Fang is out of control.'_

__"No, Papa. I would never be so disrespectful as to threaten you. You are 'Leader', but," She stepped back and took up a position next to Aoshi, who had remained perfectly quiet and still throughout the exchange. "If you challenge him, 'Cel' will kill you. Kenshin wouldn't... but 'Cel' will. He is 'First Leader' and I have a feeling if this is a taste of what we can expect from him... he won't take to lightly to your inferring that he is 'a weakling'."

A shiver of coldness crept through Hiko's body as he considered his daughters words. A Vampire with Human emotions and values... A Vampire with a Code of Honor that included the sanctity of human life as well as Pure Bloods... A Vampire with a conscience. _'God help us...' _

"Do you think His Wrath would be the end of me?" The voice was low and thoughtful as it exited the big man's chest. "Do you think he would... challenge me for a set of values over a reasonably insignificant species?"

"Insignificant, Papa? Since when did the human's become insignificant to you?"

"They really aren't, Kaoru, but if this mate of yours is going to turn out to be some left-wing fanatic instead of the leader we need him to be, then they become insignificant to our cause. They will prove to be an unwanted obstacle that has only gotten in the way... again."

"Again?" Kaoru's gaze shifted to the side and she looked at Aoshi who was offering no allegiance one way or the other. He was simply standing watch to make sure this altercation didn't escalate into something more violent. "What do you mean again?"

"It is the human race who are the fundamental source, or breeding ground for the 'Made', or had you forgotten?"

"That is not their doing, Papa. It never was. They are the victims. You taught me that yourself." Silver pools of angry suspicion locked and held the glittering angry emeralds of the older man. "Have you turned into a hypocrite, General?" Her lips pealed back and revealed milky white daggers as she hissed a challenge in his direction. "I thought we were supposed to try and protect _them_?"

"Don't you presume to lecture me, Slayer..." Hiko reared up off the wall and roared in his daughters face, but she did not so much as flinch. "I am still Leader here, and my words are still law... ASSUME YOUR POST!" Her face hardened mutinously and she opened her mouth to say something in response, but Aoshi's hand on her forearm prevented her making the rift between her and her father larger.

"Yes, sir." She gritted out snapping her fangs in fury. "The South gate. Roger."

"Move out!"

"Aye, Sir." She whirled in a cloud of ebony silk and then was gone racing down the corridor heading for her designated post. The aura of furious power she left behind was causing both men to feel extraordinarily sick.

"Why didn't her fucking mate's shield come out and slam me into the next universe?" Hiko muttered as he leaned over and spit on the floor. "Don't you think I ought to be dead, Major? Especially after that little 'quarrel'?"

"I have no idea, Sir." Aoshi followed suit and spit on the floor as his stomach roiled and surged beneath the onslaught of the power. "I am becoming more confused by this whole 'Cel' thing the farther in to it we go."

"No kidding. How long do you think we have?"

"I wouldn't know, sir. I suppose it depends where he is, and how he plans on getting here. It's daylight yet although just barely, but he may not wait, not the way he is feeling. He risks transforming in front of other humans."

"Bloody hell." Hiko raised a worried look to his Major as he rubbed a trembling hand along the edge of his jaw. "Do you think we are in danger, Major? Do you think this maniac is going to kill us?"

"I..." Aoshi dropped his gaze for a moment as he considered what he knew of 'Cel' from his brief experiences with the power that surrounded he Slayer, and now this incredible surgence of fury that had attacked the whole colony. "My gut tells me 'no', General."

"That's your gut, Aoshi. What does your head tell you? What does logic tell you?"

"That we need to lock the gates down as soon as we can."

"Now you're saying something I can agree with." Hiko turned and started quickly making his way toward the control center. "Let's make it so. Gather your Slayers, we may need them."

"General Seijuro?" Aoshi reached out and touched the large mans shoulder causing him to turn around. "Why don't you believe enough to wait and see what happens? He is 'Cel', Sir."

"Why?" Hiko's emerald gaze glinted hard and filled with a soldiers battle wariness. "Because, Major, everything we have encountered to do with this man had ended up in violence toward OUR people in one aspect or another. He does not seem to be in control of his own power, and he is obviously careless. I don't trust him."

"Is that the only reasons, Sir? Or is it something more?"

"What are you getting at, Major?"

"He's not a true Pure Blood... that did not seem to set well with you despite your reassurances to your daughter about trying to prepare the people for his arrival. Am I correct?"

The large Vampire stood still for a long moment and stared his subordinate in the eyes as he had done on many occasions, and he knew that Aoshi's gift of intuitiveness had been able to sniff him out even though he thought he had buried his feelings to deep for anyone to find. He could not hide them from the icy blue gaze that looked into his soul.

"Yes. You are correct." Hiko turned and started to walk once more toward the control room. "I don't trust him because he's nothing but a half-breed."

"Even if he is Prince Crede's grandson, and 'Cel'?"

"Even so... He is not one of _US_."

Streaking through the air like an enormous raven, Cel grinned as a feeling of complete freedom burst inside of him. He knew he could fly, he just hadn't been sure he could do it in this world, but he was streaking through the air like a missile so he supposed that answered that question. Of course, when he sprang into the air and disappeared like a ghost, he had not been thinking about whether or not he was going to be able to do it, just how fast he was going to be able to get where he wanted to go. At his current speed it wouldn't take him more than a few minutes. Being who he was had its advantages even if it was his guilt and fury that had brought him to this point.

Manhattan Bay streaked away at an alarming speed beneath him and the ruins of Ellis Island were looming closer with every second. His highly attuned senses told him that everyone in the compound was awake and that fear and chaos were raging through the living quarters and the barracks. Mentally he offered an apology for his abruptness with them, but that was as far as his sympathies went. They had all been far to accepting of whatever was told them and taught them for far too long, and it was time for their world to change. It was time to bring the clans into the world of the '_Daywalker's_' even if he had to bring them kicking and screaming all the way.

His feet landed feather soft upon the sandy beach and he cast his 'awareness' about him looking for danger before he moved an inch. There was nothing. No traps, no sentries, no warning systems; nothing. Nothing but a few proximity motion detector devices and some small UHF video cameras. 'Cel' frowned in displeasure. This was completely unacceptable. It was well known, even to him, that the 'Made' employed human assistance to help them cross over the daylight barrier, and the lack of daytime security around the compound was nothing short of pure stupidity.

Slowly he walked a perimeter around the old building noting as he went where many nighttime traps were laid out; his nose sniffing the garlic and the sea salt easily. The strategically placed rose gardens met with his approval as well, but they would only go so far in protecting the clan. The defenses themselves were pathetic. He was not amused.

It was a simple task for him to locate the entrance to the underground compound. He simply followed Kaoru's unique scent to the bench, carefully examined it, and then activated the mechanism that opened the doors. The sun in the sky was just passing the mark of 6:22pm when 'Cel' disappeared into the darkness beneath Ellis Island. The agitated 'clicking' of his long, black claws echoed in his wake as he easily maneuvered his way through the darkened entry halls until he found the elevator. He pushed the button and waited.

It took several minutes for the big silver box to reach him, and once inside he gazed dispassionately at the grid of numbers he had to chose from. _'Hmmmm, where to go?' _He thought with a twist of his lips. By the designation descriptions next the numbers, it appeared the living quarters were in the middle of the compound on floors 6,7, and 8. No doubt the three were interconnected and getting out on either floor would take him to the entire community. He pushed the seventh floor. _'Right in the middle... seems a good place to start.' _The elevator dropped.

_The next chapter is already in the works and hopefully won't take very long to complete. I hope this answered a few questions, although I realized it raised a few more. 'Cel' may be the Leader of Prophecy, but his place is not automatically secured just because of that. Half-breed issues within a hierarchal society is always a sticky issue especially when it comes to leadership and royalty. But give 'Cel' a chance... he has a few tricks up his sleeve yet, and allies can come from the strangest places._

_God Bless, thanks to everyone who is hanging in there despite the server problems with This story is also being published on (edited of course), and Media (unedited–lemons/violence/fully intact). It is posted under the penname of 'Mangestu'. That's me. :) There is also a new Aoshi/Kaoru Adult theme A/U lemon under the same penname. It's called 'The Black Hawke'. I'm getting a bit of interest in it. It's got really heavy lemon content–sort of rough. Anyway...See ya all laterz. Kanzen ne Tsuki_

_**Grand News!!!** **My story 'The Bad Kid' has been nominated to the RKRC fanfiction awards for Best Drama. I am soooo excited. I can't believe it. Wooo hooo!!! I don't know when the voting starts, but I know that nominations end the end of this month. I want to thank whoever nominated me. This is an unexpected honor. Arigato. KnT**_

**Reveiw Response:**

_MEDIA MINER:_

Thank-you to _**Nguardian, Sephiress, and Catti-dono**_ for taking the time to go over to MediaMiner and leaving me a review on this story. You are all good friends and great fans. Personally, I think I have the greatest fans in the world. Thanks you guys. God Bless. Kanzen ne Tsuki aka Mangetsu

_ADULT FANFICTION:_

**_CyberEm:_** I'm glad to see you again, honey. Sorry if Saitou scared you... but he's supposed to. :)

**_Lere:_** God Bless you, you sweet little brazilian lady! Thank you for the new story link. I haven't had a chance to go there yet, but I will. And Gomen for not writing back any sooner... I'm just so god-awful swamped at the moment with everything that is going on. I have hardly written to anyone. I'm so bad. Did you see? Someone nominated 'bad kid' to the fanfic awards! I can't believe it! Anyway... God love you, my sweet friend. So do I.

**_Polaris fire star:_** I'm glad I made you happy. :) I hope you liked this chapter too. Sorry about the cliffy, but if I had kept going the chapter would have been HUGE! The next one is in the works.

**_Ian:_** Sorry about the mistakes. I try to catch them, but I just don't get them all. I have a beta reader, but she still has the chapter reading it... I'll upload the polished version as soon as I get it... Glad you liked the chapter. Hope you like this one too. God Bless.

**_Sephiress:_** You know I didn't leave you out on purpose. I saw you go over on Media Miner... Anyway, I reposted the chapter over here so everyone I could think of was mentioned. I felt so badly that I screwed up. I love you, kid. You follow me all over the place. God Bless. I'll be looking for you in my author alerts.

**_Kaoru-chan:_** Kristin!! My sweet girl!! I love to see you here. I am the worst penpal in the world. I swear and promise I will send you a letter this week. I have been so busy with everything lately that I hardly know my own name, and I can't find my own butt. Thanks for reading, sweetie. And for being there. God Bless. Tsuki (linda)

**_MzAmber EyEz:_** Oh honey, you were mentioned... just over on Media Miner. I was so stupid! I uploaded the wrong chapter copy over on AFF. Gomen nasi my dear friend. Gomen nasi. I reposted the chapter, and you are there now. And you are here too. Thanks for reading and reviewing. You are one of my favorite fans. Love you.

**_Samuria:_** Thanks for the compliment on my fight scenes. And thanks for the review. I hope I see you :

**_FANFICTION:_**

**_psychotic catster:_** You were the first one!!! LOL. I love reading your reviews. You crack me up. You have to be one of the livest wires I've ever met. Sorry there wasn't any KK this time, but it is coming. I promise. And as for the Pythagoras Theorum in school... that's funny. Keep reading... and reviewing. You keep me going. Tuskisan

_**De Lazy Lime:**_ YaY! I saved Sou!! LOLOLOL! Sorry no lime again... but it's coming. I promise... it is coming. If you want lime/lemon... go check out 'The Black Hawke' on Media Miner under my other penname. It's full of it. The penname is 'Mangetsu'. Go enjoy you little hentai. I love ya. Tsuki

_**BelleDayNight:**_ Yes, dearest, Hiko's hair is white. LOL. Sorry there wasn't as much Aoshi in this chappy, but there will be in the next one. You haven't been around the last while. I hope that means you went somewhere for break. God knows you needed one.

_**Unknown beedee:**_ I saw you posted your new story. I haven't had the chance to go check it out yet... but I will. Thank's for still reading and reviewing, kiddo. I love ya. Did you see? Someone nominated 'Bad Kid' for the fanfiction awards. I'm totally blown away.

**_Lere:_** Lere my love... you read everything everywhere. Where would I be without you? I don't know... and I know I say that all the time too, but it's the truth. You are one of my most precious friends. I love you. I hope you liked this chapter. It was hard to write. BTW... did you pass your finals??

**_Girl from ipanema:_** Thank you for everything you did with 'The Guilty Pleasures' business. I have a new affiliate because of you, and more traffic to my website and more readers for my story. God Bless you sweet thing. And thank you for the wonderful review. Tsuki

**_Yoshimi:_** Thank you for the compliment. WoW! I feel honored that you reviewed me, and the things you said were wonderful. Thank you so much. Thank you for taking the time to tell me what you think. It means so much to me... I'm glad I have given you something to enjoy. I hope to see you again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too. Tsuki

**_Aqua-chan:_** Yes, I think Saitou makes a fabulous villian. He was the only one I had in mind for the part from the very beginning. Everybody gets to meet 'Cel' next chapter. So hang around. Tsuki

**_Parisita:_** I hope your depression problems are better. I know how awful that can be when you feel that way. I hope school helps. Keeping your mind occupied is always a good way to cope.

Thank you for the review, and thank you for always having something positive to say. I look forward to reading you whenever you're on my lists. God Bless always my friend. Take care. Tsuki

**_Lendra-chan:_** Alendra, Gomen nasi, my love. I have read your new stories, and I love them, but I was not able to leave you reviews. The stupid window... grrrrr. Anyway. I have read them, sweetling, and you are getting so much better. I will have free time this week, so tell your friend I will definitely be looking at her story. Apologize for me that it has taken so long. I have been so busy. Many new responsibilities, but I will keep my word. Love you. Tuski

**_Luraia Soul:_** Thank you for the compliment. I hope you liked the new chapter.

_**Kao-gurl:**_ Sorry, Kenshin and Kaoru didn't get to see each other this time around, but it is coming in the next chapter. Thank you for your compliments. They mean a lot to me. I hope you liked the chapter. God Bless.

And thank-you to all those who read and don't review. I appreciate your patronage. God Bless.


	12. The Source chapter three

A/N: I feel soooooooo stupid!!! I was going through and reviewing everything on and MediaMiner to make sure it was kosher, and I discovered the most heinous mistake. I FORGOT TO POST CHAPTER THREE!! I can't believe I did that. I honestly can't believe it. I was so busy making sure I posted everything in the right order and so on, that I skipped an entire fucking chapter. Stupid old woman. Geez!!!

So, Gomen nasi for a thousand years. Here it is. It may help a few things make more sense... and God forbid I made a reference to it in the future without it being there. Dumb, dumb, dumb... banging head on floor... dumb!

Chapter Three

The Source

New York City

Elis Island (Deserted)

Underground Complex 100,000 sq. ft.

The Black Lands

April 2004

The Weekend

2:37 a.m. Sunday Morning

Characters:

Mara Rostovich

Hiko Seijuro

Soujiro Seta (Kamiya)

Kaoru Kamiya

"You fucking stupid bitch!" The sound of the slap was only out classed and out matched by the sound of a body slamming against a metal shelving unit filled with countless stacks of medical supplies, books, instruments, and other miscellaneous items as it went crashing to the floor. "Didn't I tell you to stay the hell off my side of the City?" The level of negative energy boiling inside of the large square room filled with hospital gurnies and emergency medical equipment was astonishing, and the source was even more perplexing. It was coming from two very beautiful females. One blonde with large dark brown eyes the color of the darkest and deepest centers of the Earth, and the other with hair as dark as the blackest night, her eyes sparkling with the light of the bluest sapphire diamonds from the richest mines in all the World, and it was her anger that raged the hottest in this battle of wills as she screamed again at the blonde who was struggling to regain her feet. "Don't you ever fucking listen to anything you're told, you bloody ditz? Broadway Alley is my district, my turf, my streets... the pimps and dealers are MINE." A well-manicured nail polished in the deepest red pointed furiously at her chest, but the blonde female looked on nonplused by the pompous action.

"Yeah, so what? Do you think I give a flying shit about YOUR fucking 'TURF'? Well, newsflash, Baby... I don't." Tossing her waist length hair over her shoulder and narrowing her dark eyes, she curled her full pouty lips into a disrespectful sneer. "Hell... I even bag one of your so-called scum-sucking weasel-boys just as good as you ever have, and I dusted me a 'Made' in the process... an 'Ancient' at that." A smile of purest gloating pleasure curled her lips as she faced the other seething Vampire; she was going to enjoy putting this 'Almighty' self-important bitch in her place. "Tell me, Oh Thou Queen Bitch of The Universe, HAVE you ever done that? Hmmmm... have you ever killed one of your stinking rat-faced pimps AND dusted a Made in the same night? Let alone dusted an 'Ancient' on the same night? Hmmm... have you?" The last was said with just enough of a honey-sweet voice to make the dark-haired female momentarily drop her eyes in discomfort.

"It doesn't really matter if I have or not, you stupid empty-headed, Bimbo... The point is, you were lax and sloppy as hell with your kill. You left evidence and clues all over the place... the New York Police aren't stupid. They will most certainly find every one of them seeing as how you messed up your pretty boy by fucking him AND breaking his neck." She snorted in keen irritation over the mention of that fact, and then she pointedly looked into the slightly confused brown eyes of the other female. "DON'T YOU KNOW ANYTHING?!" She practically shouted into the perfect porcelain features. "YOU. NEVER. LEAVE. EVIDENCE. BEHIND. FOR. THE. COPS. TO. FOLLOW. BACK. TO. THE. NEST." And then suddenly, like the blinding flash of a whip, the sound of a packed fist hitting bone rang through the square room echoing off the flat brick walls like the slam of a hammer striking stone. The blonde Vampire sailed through the air like a rag doll landing in an unconscious heap on the floor several yards away.

Furious eyes, the color of red-hot coals burned in hatred as the remaining female looked on dispassionately at the work she had created with one blow of her fist. Absently she swept a stray lock of ebony silk out of her perfect porcelain features that were at this moment marred by the furious look they bore. Tossing her head, she managed to throw the rest of her thigh length hair back over her shoulders where it belonged, and then leaned over and picked up the mangled useless piece of black silk that lay on the floor beside her. Examining it closely, she realized it was the tie that had been holding her heavy mane in a tight top knot on top of her head. At some point during her altercation with the other female it had been ripped free and torn. The two ends were still tied together. The knot itself had held... the ribbon had torn. It had been her favorite ribbon despite its planeness, and she felt her anger swiftly returned. But as she stood and made one step toward the unconscious blonde, a deep baritone voice halted her in her tracks as it barked an order of authority she could not ignore.

"Stop! That is enough. You have more than made your point, Kaoru. I don't think Mara will be stepping a single foot inside Broadway's boundaries for a good long time after this little thrashing you just gave her."

"She had better not..." The angry beauty licked her long lethal canines in an absent-minded threatening gesture. "Next time she does, I swear I'll kill her."

"Don't you that is a bit harsh, My Dear? Hmmmmm......?" She turned and faced a tall heavily

muscled white-haired man who was rising from his strategic point of observation next to one of the gurneies, and glared her displeasure at he opinion. "I know she made a big mistake tonight, but its only one mutilated body out of how many? And how many clues could she have possibly left for the Police to find, considering how many murders and other blasphemous practices go on down there at night in such a crime infested place as Broadway?"

"I have only been able to exterminated three... men in thus far in the Broadway sector... you forget, Father...I just started working that particular part of downtown." Her voice thickened with scorn as she cast a murderous look over her shoulder at the body laying on the floor. "Mara's fucked up kill tonight makes four. What the hell was she doing over there anyway? I thought you assigned her to China Towne with Misao's group?"

"I did."

"So what the hell was she doing in Broadway tonight?"

"That is a damn good question, and I am afraid I may have the answer."

"What? What answer? Tell me, you've got my undivided attention now." Kaoru turned and

looked at the Man who had been her Father for the last 600 years and waited patiently for the answer he claimed to have, but he was giving her that look. The one that said he was gauging her mood and hence her response, and when Hiko Seijuro, the once Royal Horse Master to the last King of the Pure Bloods and Retainer to Prince Crede looked at anyone like that, it meant he would talk when he was bloody good and ready too. "Come on, Father...don't make me wait all night."

"I just don't want you to make good on your threat and kill her." 'It isn't like I do not believe you won't do it..., No, dear daughter, it is that I am afraid you will.'

"Why do you say that? What has she done?" 'That disgusting little ....'

"Now Kaoru, calm down or I really will keep it to myself." 'You hotheaded, suspicious..'

"All right fine... I am calm." 'Geeez... what does it take??'

"Yeah right, like a volcano." 'Do I look stupid... don't answer that.'

"FATHER!"

"All right, all right... In the last few months, I have caught her several times going through the old archived records while your brother was away doing something else..." He cast a swift look in his daughters direction checking to see if she were indeed going to blow up, to his relief she merely looked a tad surprised if not puzzled as she returned his gaze.

"You punished her, of course."

"No, actually... I didn't." The looked morphed from puzzled to outright confused and irritated.

"Why not?" Demanded Kaoru in a belligerent voice. "I thought it was strictly forbidden for anyone to go through the archives excepting you and Soujiro?"

"Technically it is, but I really didn't feel like stripping her back with a cat-o-nine-tails at that moment." His daughter rolled her glittering blue eyes at his caustic remark just to show him how she felt about his ill placed jibe at her obvious hatred of the other female.

"Whatever..." She replied in a testy tone of voice. "What DID you do?"

"Nothing." At the disbelieving look of pure outrage his daughter threw in his direction, Hiko decided to elaborate... for Mara's benefit, not Kaoru's. "She is complete obsessed with 'The Prophecy' of 'The One' and all of the written word surrounding it."

"Aren't we all?" Kaoru's voice was nasty and sarcastic as she tossed her head in annoyance. "That doesn't make her special."

"Not like this, Kaoru. Non one is obsessed like this."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Mara actually believes She is the one who is destined to become 'The Source.'"

"What? Are you kidding? That meelly mouthed little bitch??" A short, sharp bark of laughter leapt from the ebony-haired females swan-like throat as she thought about what her Father had just said. "HER? The Source?? That is the most ludicrous thing I ever heard. She doesn't have the strength to become Mate to 'The One'. Her blood isn't even close to being pure enough to wake him and bring him into this world let alone 'thick enough with the Power of the Old Ways' to claim his Destiny."

"And I suppose you think your's is?" Hiko's voice rose angrily as his daughters arrogance finally succeeded in getting on his last nerve. "How dare you presume to quote the Prophecy to me, Daughter!! And how dare you presume to know who is or is not meantd to become 'The Source.' Not even your Brother nor I know that, and we are more familiar with the Holy Word inside of the Archives than you could ever hope to be!" Snapping emerald gems glinted with red fire as he glared furiously into Kaoru's face. "So, do not dare ever lay claim to the Prophecy again."

"I never said that I was." She fumed into his angry visage and snapping emerald eyes.

"Perhaps not, but your behavior endears you to that end, and many have made that assumption because of it."

"So? What does that matter... there is always talk circling the Prophecy and what the future holds for our people. There always has been, and there always will be until 'The One' is found." Shrugging in snobbish indifference, Kaoru turned away from her angry Father and started to walk over to the fallen blonde female. "I don't see the problem with the rumors about me... there will always be rumors... who cares who they involve."

Suddenly the scent of danger filled her olfactory passages, and Kaoru's whole body and every system went on the defensive as she whirled to meet the impending threat lurking behind her. Shocked blue eyes widened in confusion as she found herself facing her brother's more than angry face. Soujiro was livid with fury and his usually soft blue-gray eyes had gone brilliantly glowing, bloody red as they raked her with disgust.

"You fucking bloody Witch!" He sneered through his fangs. "You're the most conceited person I know... How did you get this way, Kao? Once upon a time, you were a sweet, kind, and gentle girl who everyone loved. Now, no one has anything pleasant to say about you because you are such a pious, self-centered, self-serving Bitch!"

"Hey! You don't get to talk to me like that, Brother!" Angry fangs lengthened as she crouched down and met his raging bloody gaze with one of her own. "You aren't even in the same league as I am... You aren't out in the streets working the trenches... You aren't even attending the Academy for training sessions anymore. Why, I'll bet I could beat your fucking sorry excuse for a fighters ass with both hands tied behind my back."

"Fuck you!" He yelled back and made to rush her, but Hiko laid a hand on his shoulder and held him back, and when Soujiro looked up at his Father in hurt confusion, he found himself looking into the reluctant but honest green eyes he had grown to trust such a long time ago.

"Unfortunately, Soujiro..." The older Male began gently. "Your sister is right. She could beat you without even hardly breaking a sweat, but that means nothing when considering either or your value to our cause."

"Huh?" Soujiro looked up into the ambiguous face of his adopted Father. "What do you mean? Our value?"

"Despite your sister's arrogant and self-serving ways... she is one of the best 'Slayers' I have... and you. You have one of the most magnificent minds I have ever come across. You know the Holy Archives backward and forward better even than The Council does." Smiling benignly at the Younger Male, Hiko squeezed his shoulder encouragingly. "That is why it is you who are 'The Keeper', and not one of the Older Men."

"Thank-you, Father." Soujiro bowed his head in humble acknowledgment of the compliment because he was aware that his Father was not one to give them if they were not deserved.

"However, back to your sister, and the original reason you were so angry..." The green gaze traveled across the room and came to rest on the fallen form of the young female.

"Mara...?" Soujiro's voice was quiet and filled with stiff anger.

"Mara."

"Is she all right?" Soujirou skirted his seething sister and quickly knelt beside the blonde female Vampire and then gently lifted her head into his lap. "Mara, Sweetheart? Can you hear me, Baby?" Tenderly he stroked his hand along the perfect porcelain cheek noticing the ugly bruise that was forming there. "Did you have to hit her so hard, Kao?" Hurt and angry eyes looked up at Kaoru, and for the first time since her altercation with the other woman, she felt a twinge of guilt.

"She went into my designated area and very likely may have caused irreparable damage with the police.... the little tramp."

"What do you mean? Irreparable damage... what did she do that was so awful compared to what you do all the time?"

Kaoru glared at her brother fiercely. Sometimes she almost hated him. "She fucked up and left a shit load of evidence around her kill."

"What kind of evidence?"

"Well, First of all, she broke the dirt-bags neck through 5 and 6 and left him alive while she drank him nice and slow. Second, she fucked him in his car... left her body fluids, skin samples, and her long blonde hair allll over him, and Third, the car was parked in an abandoned lot that was covered with dirt."

"Huh? So what?"

"Dirt! Are you stupid??" She was raging in his face and her eyes were flaring hot coals.

"Footprints, you dumb-ass... footprints." Now Soujiro was looking at Hiko and both of them were wearing the same perplexed expression. "Oh My God! Are you both that dense?"

"Kaoru..." Hiko's voice was laced heavily with warning signals that she was treading on thin ice where her respect issues were concerned. "Watch your mouth, Daughter."

"Fine," She grumbled, but her level of incredulity level did not decrease one ounce. "Mara likes to wear those funky spike heeled boots... they ones with the rubber tread in front and the custom made wooden spike in the back... capped with the steel cap??"

"And...."

"It leaves a very unique print in the dirt. There is only one establishment here in the City that makes and sells those kinds of boots. Moody's... over on 49th street next to the 'Raven's Wing Club'."

"Oh my..." Hiko's hand rose to rub his chin thoughtfully. "I was not aware of that."

"I didn't think you were."

"I imagine being a custom store they keep very detailed records of all the special jobs they do... nu?"

"Yes. They do at that." Kaoru's eyes were beginning to fade back to their usual deep sapphire blue as she noticed her Father was actually listening to her... and understanding for a change. Plus, he had all of a sudden stopped defending the unconscious blonde. That was the best thing of all.

"Has Mara been discreet?"

"I don't know... but, I'd almost wager she hasn't."

"Why do you say that? Mara isn't stupid you know.' Soujiro's anger retort brought his sisters attention right back to him and his precious blonde burden.

"No. I agree... reluctantly, brother. Your girlfriend is NOT completely stupid, but ever since you two moved out of the compound and took that apartment when she was reassigned to Manhattan... It just doesn't seem like she is being as careful as she used to be." A thoughtful wrinkle furrowed the handsome Vampire's smooth flawless brow as he considered this statement, and he had to admit... his sister could be right.

"Dammit!"

"You know, Sou... One of these days, her slutting around is going to give you some kind of a disease or something..." Kaoru shuddered and walked out of the room leaving Hiko and his son looking at each other with odd expressions. It was as if that were the very first time that particular idea had occurred to either of them.

"Shit!"

Glossary: Fiu=Son, Nu=No, Desigur=Yes,

Excerpt from The Holy Archives ... No date

The Demon's of War will rise to fight

their armor and swords posed for battle,

waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

they will wait for the battle cry

the shout from the Almighty One, Himself.,

He who will come to guide them onward.

Leading his Army ever forward, they plunge

into the jaws of blood and death,

their swords are red, their hearts beat strong,

their bravery is unwavering.

Victory lies within their grasp, gauntlets of

gold, silver, steel, and even purest crystal...

All reach for the Glory of Freedom,

The Stillness of Peace,

The Oneness of Unity and Non-Segregation.

Prophecy speaks of Legend's unknown,

strange days that are faraway from now.

The Will of The One Rises

From the Ashes of The Long Past Dead....

The Time is Nigh upon The Moon

as Blood drips over her porcelain face.

Long has he lived in the shadows of his

own soul, his own life...

Long has he waited... waited for release,

for freedom, for time to open the gate of his mind.

Now men fly on wings of steel, and

paintings speak with the voices of the dead and the living.

The worlds of the Light and the Dark cross and

fuse, they mix and intertwine like lovers...

limbs... hair... clothes... minds.... all things...

All things are colored into blurring images, and where

one stops and the other begins,

This is where you will find Him...

'The One'... He rests in the blur of the World...

Look for him there

Kenshin's Mind...

"Tell me what you see, my Fiu...."

"I can see the Earth... The Ocean's... The Great Desert's... The Endless Sky's..."

"What do they tell you? What can you hear?"

"I... hear... whispering... murmuring... They speak together yet none speak the same language... it is... difficult."

"Listen, My Fiu... Listen with your heart and listen with your blood. You have the ability to understand each language as it is spoken, and you can fuse them together in your mind and hear them as one speech."

"It is... I..."

"Listen... focus on that which speaks the softest, which is the most soothing, which is the most alluring... let it guide you through the dance of ancient tongues and you will remember... you will remember... remember... remember..."

"A... a woman... I-I can hear a woman... OooooOoooh her voice..."

"What do you hear in her voice, My Fiu?"

"The whispering of the Winds across tall green grasses in a meadow of tiny pink and violet wild flowers... soooo beautifulll... sooo delicate..."

"What does She say to you, My Fiu?"

"She sings... sings... sings about The Wheel of Time... The Wheel... The Wheel..."

"What of The Great Wheel?"

"It is 'Fate'... 'Karma'... She sings of 'Pathways' and 'Choices'... and... crossroads in time..."

"Yes, Kenshin, My Fiu... She is The Mother, She is The Cosmos... She is Fate itself, and it is She who control's the pathways of each of our lives. What else does she tell you, Beloved Fiu?"

"I... must... choose... my path."

"Desigur, you must. For there is not another soul alive who can make it for you. What must you choose between?"

"Going forward into the darkness of what is yet unknown, or retreating back into what I already know, but there are... consequences for each choice."

"There are always consequences when we are made to choose between one thing or another. This you have known since you were a small boy."

"Yes... I have known."

"What do you choose now... will you go forward and accept what Mother Fate has set before you to accomplish, whatever it may be, or do you retreat back into the world of facts, evidence, and logic that have been raised to believe is the only truth in the World worth believing?"

"I......"

"You must choose now, Kenshin, for the time of our people's Armageddon is upon us, and it is up to you if we are to step forward into the fray of battle or perish beneath the heel of our oppressor's."

"Why must it be MY choice?"

"Because... YOU are 'The One'.

"I have no wish to be 'The One'. I have only wanted to live a peaceful life and grow old with my family around me... I do not want or need such a vast responsibility."

"What we want and what we need are not always choices we are allowed to make for ourselves. Surely you are aware of this."

"I am not certain I understand."

"No one chooses to die at the hand of another, no one chooses to be born deformed or mentally disabled, no one chooses to be beaten at the hands of a parent or a spouse... need I go on?"

"Nu... I am beginning to see what you are saying, but none of these things are the same as being chosen to save an entire society of people... To be responsible for thousands upon thousands of lives... to lead them screaming into a battle that will surely end in the deaths of many of them... I-I do not want such a mantle to be laid upon my shoulders. I am not worthy of such a position of Honor."

"There is no one but yourself to take up the Mantle and the Sword and lead these people into battle... You are 'The One'... Now you must choose to either take your place as the Leader of our people, or abandon them and return to your Human Life."

"I.... will I remember this?"

"Remember what?"

"This... This conversation? This whispering voice? This crossroads and it's choices? Will I remember any of this should I choose to return to whom I have been all my human existence? Will I carry the guilt of my choice back with me?"

"Nu... everything from the moment you discovered I was Vampire until the moment you choose would be forever forgotten, and I would simply tell you that you had fallen and bumped your head on the pavement. You would remember nothing... Sadly enough."

"I understand."

"Do you? Do you understand the magnitude of this decision? Do you understand how many lives are at risk should you choose not to take your place?"

"Desigur... I understand, but I must think... I must... thinnnnkkk...."

"You do not have the luxury of 'Time', Kenshin, you must CHOOSE..."

TBC


	13. Inside

Pythagoras: was a sixth-century BC mathematician and philosopher who founded his own religious sect. His followers thought that the body was an impediment to the spiritual-life, and believed avoiding foods from animals and partaking in rituals would help them attain higher levels of knowledge. They also believed that reincarnation would eventually lead the soul to pure enlightenment where it would become purely divine and be set free into the universe.

_(Disclaimer---Authors creation–this is a purely fictional storyline__. There are no religious or Biblical references being made other than the premise of the Holy War in Heaven where Lucifer was cast out, and the names of the Archangels them selves. So, please no flames in reference to any religious belief or standard. I am not out to offend anyone. It is just a story and I felt it was time to explain 'where' Cel came from and just exactly 'who The Fang of Pythagoras' was.)_

_**Reply to fan Reviews written with next chapter. Gomen Nasi. Kanzen ne Tsuki**_

_WARNING: LONG CHAPTER. POSSIBILITY OF TWO CHAPTERS WRITTEN IN MULTIPLE PARTS._

_The PresenceThe name used when speaking or referring to the Archangel collective. The presence refers to all seven Archangels as a single unit._

_The Throne of ParadiseThe same as the Throne of Heaven. The Throne where The One God sets and rules Heaven._

_The Holy War in HeavenThe war between the Armies of Heaven and the Unclean forces of Darkness. It raged on for 10,000 years. In the end, Lucifer was cast out with his host and forbidden to ever return. His 'brother', Azuril, was placed at the gates of heaven to ward off those souls who would not repent their sins and bring forth only those who were pure enough to return to the company of The One God._

_LuciferThe eighth Archangel, the youngest member of The Presence. He fell away from his 'brothers' and became lost in the despair of outer darkness when he succumbed to his anger and jealousy. Because he was dissatisfied with his position within The Presence and his status in Heaven, Lucifer rallied an army of unclean souls about him and waged war upon the spirits of Heaven. The Holy War lasted 10,000 years, and when it ended, Lucifer was cast out of God's presence and forbidden to ever return._

_AzurilThe fourth Archangel, the Angel of Repentance. He is also known as the Angel of Death. He was placed at the Gates of Heaven to be escort to the new souls, but also to ward off those souls who were still tainted with the stain of Lucifer's sin. _

Chapter Twelve

Part One: The Creation of The Archangels

The Fall of Lucifer, The Eighth Archangel__

___In the Beginning when Time was still young and the Earth new, a being of tremendous power and wisdom was born. Rising from the flames of creation, he seized The Throne of Heaven and became the first to bring the chaos of the firmament under control. Calling him self Houou, he established his right to rule as Father to all souls thus beginning his reign over the heavens. As The Law and The Hand of Justice swept across the Universe, Houou soon realized that he could not rule alone, and he was prompted to create helpmates to assist him in maintaining the peace of his domain. _

_And so, he gathered to him the eight strongest , purest, and most brave souls from among those who gathered around him, and upon them bestowed special gifts. To each he gave the power and relentlessness harbored within the crashing waved of the storming sea, the farsighted vision of a soaring eagle, the prowess of the stalking lion, the cunning of the hunting wolf, and the speed of the mighty cyclone as it sweeps its devastating winds across land and water destroying all in its path. Then to each he gave a pair of magnificent wings so that they might take to skies and fly through the heavens like great birds watching and searching as they governed the acts and actions of Houou's people. The last gift to be given was a sword made of gleaming silver-white metal whose glacial surface captured the brilliance of the flaming sun turning it into a flaming symbol of the winged-warriors divine authority. He declared these eight glorious beings to be 'Archangels', and he called them 'The Presence'._

_When creation was complete, Houou took The Presence to his Throne and as each Archangel knelt before him, he named them and gave them a personal designation._

_To the first, he cried out in a loud voice, "You are Michael! You will be the strongest, my son, hence you shall be the Leader among your brothers and the General over my Armies. You are the protector of my Truths and the bearer of The Law. You will stand at my right hand and be the First." As Houou touched Michael's shoulder, the Archangel's flared to a brilliant gold and his wings became whiter than the stone of Throne it self. "Come, my beloved son, and stand beside me." The Great Warrior rose to his new height of eight feet and took his place on the right hand of Houou._

_To the second, Houou, shouted, "You are Gabriel! You are the keeper of my strength and my progeny. You will bring Inspiration to those who know only fear and despair, and it is the essence of your spirit that will quicken the new life within a woman's womb. You will support your brother's every command and stand at his side as his second, and you will take your place on my left hand." Reaching out, Houou placed his hand upon Gabriel's shoulder and the Archangel's hair and wings shimmered in the morning mists changing into a gleaming black that glinted with blue and green and gold as the light of the sun poured down upon him. He too rose to his feet and took his place on the left hand of Houou._

_To the third, Houou gave the power to heal wounds of the flesh as well as wounds of the heart and soul, and when the Archangel knelt before him, Houou named him Raphael bestowing upon him the glory of a flowing chestnut mane and wings of summer gold._

_To the forth was given the power of fire and the burden of leading the souls of the dead through the gateway into Heaven. "You are the Angel Of Death, my dear Azuril." Houou spoke in a quiet and comforting voice as he knelt before the trembling Archangel and embraced him. "You above all of your brothers must learn the ways of forgiveness, compassion, and love. Yet, you must be firm and unyielding with the souls who have yet to repent of their transgressions for you must turn them away." The barest of nods greeted these difficult words, and Houou placed a loving, tender kiss upon the furrowed brow. As he did, Azuril's hair and flesh turned to white, while his face faded to a charcoal gray and his ears rose to points on the side of his head. The feathers within his magnificent wings grew white but were tinged with grays and muted blues throughout, and his gleaming sword stretched long and changed into a black, double headed scythe. The Angel of Death and Fire was prepared to take his place._

_To the fiftth_ _was given the power of Friendship. His name was made Raguel, and he was made the conscience over his brothers as Houou beseeched this gentle yet volatile soul to be the steadying force within The Presence. "Keep your brothers mindful of their purpose, my beloved son, and maintain the bonds that bind you all together lest one of you should be lost to the abyss of temptation." Wings of pale violet with hair to match bloomed upon the powerful body, and Raguel rose to take his place beside his brothers._

_To the sixth Houou gave the responsibility of disciplining his brothers. Sariel was given the power to set in Judgement and exact punishment upon the Archangels within The Presence, and it was he and he alone who could decide their fate if one of them performed a misdeed. Unless the misdeed was to heinous even for his gift of judgement and fairness, and as the had of Houou touched him, Sariel was draped in cobalt blue._

_To the seventh, Remiel, was bestowed the gift of Hope. He was the shining beacon of optimism and conviction that could be shown to the people whenever despair and discouragement crushed their souls. He would stand beside his brother, Gabriel, and shine like a star in the heavens and give the people something to believe in again. A flaming wash of red spilled over his wings and bled into his hair turning him into a living, breathing symbol of Eternal Hope._

_To the eighth and last Archangel of The Presence, Houou bestowed the gift of Joy and renewal. He alone had the ability to bring the distraught and floundering soul the feelings of happiness and faith in a new future. Gabriel and Remiel brought hope and inspiration. Michael brought strength and truth. Raphael healed the wounds of pain and Raguel offered friendship. But it was Lucifer who brought the joy and happiness needed for the soul to grasp the other offerings and move forward with the knowledge that the future held the promise of a new and positive beginning. Without joy and renewal, the other gifts were useless, and as Houou's hands touched the bent curve of his head, Lucifers eyes were filled with the beauty of the sky even as his hair and wings became the pure shining gold of molten amber. _

_And so Houou sat upon his throne with Michael, Azuril, Raguel, and Sariel standing at his right hand. Gabriel, Raphael, Remiel, and Lucifer at his left hand. The Presence was complete and peace reigned in The Lands of Heaven and Earth. For five thousand years prosperity and harmony reached far and wide over the domain of Houou and there was want for nothing. Every living soul both mortal and ethereal enjoyed life to the fullest and the feelings toward Houou and The Presence were of tremendous love and respect. Happiness abounded within the Universe and Houou became known as The One God._

_But unrest was brewing within the hierachy of The Presence, and then it came to pass that the youngest among them, Lucifer, began to feel his position as the protector of joy and renewal was no longer satisfactory. He believed he was capable of much more responsibility than his paltry status offered, and felt he deserved a better position of authority within the ranks of power. He believed he was just as good at leading and bearing the duties of their father as any of the others. Soon, the sins of Greed, Envy, and Coveting were festering in his heart and poisoning his soul with their unrighteous thoughts. The once purity of his angelic soul began to succumb to the darkness of anger and solitude as he pulled away from the haven of The Presence and the comforting bond of his brothers love._

_"I should be First Leader and General over the Armies, not Michael." Lucifer hissed as he paced back and forth in the chilled confines of his dark room and musty room. "I should be the bringer of new life and the bearer of Inspiration, not Gabriel. Why can't Father see that I am much more suited to the duties of leadership and ushering the new souls than my brothers ever will be? Why does he continue to overlook my natural talents? Why does he continue to chose those spineless fools who know nothing about the strength and the glory of battle or the joy of choosing which soul to send into a woman's womb? Why can't he see ME?" Angry fists jabbed and punched into the cold air as the frustrated Archangel allowed his jealousy to overcome his heart filling it with a lake of burning fury that fed his body with the heat of hatred. _

_"You only see what you want to see, Father. You never see ME!" He screamed impotently as his clear blue eyes filled with tears and the shimmering gold of his of his magnificent wings fluttered with unbridled agitation. "You have never seen anything but what Michael and Gabriel want you to see. I am less than nothing to you." And as Lucifer dwelled more and more upon the inadequacies of his position among his brothers, an ocean of jealously and despair rose up to consume him and he became lost in the rolling waves of disillusionment. Grief surged through his tortured soul and when he could bear no more, he mind exploded with malicious rage and hatred. His thoughts, feelings, and perceptions were shattered into fragments of confusion warping his vision of reality forever._

_As his soul was lost to the abyss of despair, Lucifer fell away from all who knew and loved him, and the light of the moon witnessed the transformation of his spirit as the golden light of his glorious wings and hair dimmed and became blacker than the darkest pit. Outer darkness rose and claimed the heart of the fallen Archangel filling it with ice and a loathing for all life. And what had once been pure and overflowing with love and promise now became cold and withered knowing only hate, greed, and ambitious selfishness. Lucifer, The Lord of Darkness, had been born._

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Chapter Twelve

Part Two: The Holy War in Heaven

The Rise of Pythagoras, The Ninth Archangel

The King of The Dark World, The God of Darkness

The First Pure Blood

_Gathering about him an army of unclean, unfortunate souls, Lucifer rose up against The Holy Law in raging defiance and tried to steal the Throne of Paradise for his self. But he was met by the seven bloodied swords of his 'brothers' who positioned them selves between the Unclean and their One God. War raged between the light and the dark, and as the blood of the immortals stained the land, a great cry rose up from the innocent souls that lay slain at the feet of the Unclean._

_"Save us, God of our Souls... Save us, Great Father... Save us, for we perish and our strength grows dim... Help us, Great Father. Help us."_

_And a tremendous thunderbolt flashed across the sky crashing into the ground with a terrible explosion of earth and fire. The air was filled with screams and many ran from the devastation in fear for their life that another flare of God's great power would catch them unawares. But, as the debris settled there stood but a single being. Though he was a magnificent being, he was the only one._

_He stood nigh on twelve feet tall with wings, black as deaths blood, stretched up high above his head, their tips pointing toward the gleaming ball of billowing flame that was the Sun. As he opened his eyes, those same flames were leaping inside golden orbs that glared in angry judgement down upon the terrified souls surrounding him. A breastplate of silver was strapped to his chest, and the pure white mane of his hair whipped about his face in long ropes of liquid mist. The sword in his massive fist was two-thirds again as long as that of any of his 'brothers', and as he raised it into the air, it caught the reflection of the sun and became a blazing omen of justice._

_"I am Pythagoras!" He cried out in a booming voice that shook the ground and made the trees tremble. "I have been sent to judge Thee for thy crimes against The One God. Ye are all sinners and must make penance for thy deeds. Let all who stand against the Kingdom of The One God be judged!" And then the giant Archangel threw back his magnificent head and let loose a battle cry that filled the air with the energy and power of War bringing new life to the Army of Heaven. "Come with me, my brothers, and let us make a victory for our Father this day!" The answering cry from the other seven exploded over the bloody battlefield and the last charge of the Holy War began._

_The towering Archangel wadded into the fray of battle shouting his battle cry as his sword swung this way and that slicing and hacking a pathway through the Unclean as he moved. Souls screaming in terrified panic struggled to flee his rampage of justice, but there was little to no escaping the long armed reach as he swept their bloodied bodies out of his way. Not long into the battle, Pythagoras discovered he had another weapon to use on the scrambling cowards trying to avoid him. Grabbing them by an arm or a leg, he would haul them up to his mouth and use the long, dagger-like fangs protruding from his upper jaw to tear their heads off or rip their hearts out. It made for a gory demise, but it really did not matter to him. The Unclean were just as dead either way. _

_The battle raged for 1,000 years until the moment when Pythagoras stood before Lucifer his self demanding the fallen Angel to surrender or perish on the end of his blade. Seething with furious hatred, Lucifer had thrown his weapon aside and knelt in supplication before the giant who had rained ruin upon him destroying all his hopes and dreams. Pythagoras, and the seven remaining host of The Presence took Lucifer before The One God and threw him upon the steps before The Throne to await judgement and punishment. _

_As an Archangel, he had sworn an oath to protect 'The Kingdom of God' and preserve the sanctity of Heaven, and by declaring war upon that which he had sworn to uphold, Lucifer committed the most horrible of blasphemies. He had defied God, his self. Judgement would be harsh._

_In the end, Lucifer and his remaining host were cast out of Heaven forever, and Lucifer was forbidden to ever return. In order to make sure that he did not, and to be certain no tainted soul ever passed through The Gates again, The One God placed Lucifer's brother, Azuril, to stand watch. As the fourth Archangel, and The Keeper of the Dead, Azuril would be the only one who would know which souls were tainted and which were not. He would also make certain his 'fallen brother' never tried to return home again._

_When The One God called Pythagoras before him, the Great Archangel came and knelt upon the stone steps bowing his head in humble supplication and asking what was needed of him. Because of his violent nature, The One God knew it would be difficult to keep Pythagoras within the confining gates, so he gave the great warrior a choice._

_Stay in Heaven and remain among his 'brothers', or choose his own fate. Pythagoras chose his own fate. He humbly requested to be sent to Hell to guard The Gates of The Dark World and keep the great evils from finding their way back into Heaven. The One God was shocked and proud beyond words. He granted Pythagoras his request, but it was not Heaven he wished for him to guard... it was Earth. _

_"Please, my beautiful and selfless son, take your strength and guard the path that leads to The Mother and her fragile children. It is She, and not I, who is more in need of your gifts for she has so few to protect her vulnerable lands."_

_"Am I to protect her alone, My Father?" Pythagoras asked as his golden eyes raised to gaze upon the loving face of The One God._

_"No, My son. I will give you a mate and the means to create off-spring like yourself, and together you will all stand forth to protect The Mother. You will be the key to a new order, Pythagoras, and your children will know what it means to be in the service of the Gods. And you will teach them The Way of The Fang so that the World of Darkness will never be without a force of guardians."_

_"The Way of The Fang? I do not understand, My Father?"_

_"It will be a means to progenerate your kind without the need of a mate. When the time comes, you will know what to do. But remember this, My son, and remember it well. For upon the day that you or any of yours forget, Hell will rise up and consume your progeny completely."_

_"I will not forget, My Father. Tell me what I must remember."_

_"You must never allow, under any cause or reason, the spilling of innocent blood. All life is sacred and the living blood that flows through a body's veins carries the energy of the innocent soul. If it is taken unto the point of death for no other reason than food or sport, the being who has tasted of it will become tainted with the evil of Lucifer's own sin."_

_"Lucifer?"_

_"Envy, jealousy, greed... lasciviousness. One sin rides on the back of the other until the purity of a soul becomes black and heavy with the burden. Murder and betrayal are the greatest sins in the universe, My son. Do not allow your people to fall prey to the pathway that leads to them."_

_"But, My Father, I still do not understand. Why would my people want to 'taste' of innocent blood, or blood at all? Are we animals in this fragile world of The Mother's?"_

_"No, Pythagoras. You are not animals, you are the predators that feed on the animals. I made you what you are to fight in my War, but I did not think beyond that to what your life would be afterward. You and your kind will crave the living blood... crave the hunt, crave the taste, crave the knowledge. But you do not need it to survive, so you must learn restraint and control. You must to stop before death occurs." _

_So many questions, so many things to understand. Pythagoras and The One God talked far into the day about what he and his people could and could not do. What they should and should not do. Then at long last, the Archangel bowed his head low touching the stair in dutiful respect paying homage to his Father, The One God._

_"I will remember all that you have taught me, My Father. I will teach it to my children and my people, and we will serve The Mother loyally as you have asked. I will not let the great evils of The Dark World pass through the gate and claim the place called 'Earth'. I promise you."_

_The One God stood and offered a blessing over his beloved and brave son, and then, in the blink of an eye, the air beside Pythagoras shimmered, shifted with muted colors and textures and became a woman. Her hair hung long in a flaming cascade of red and gold ropes that reached her knees, and the stark pale contrast of her skin caused the enormous round jewels of her glittering green eyes to almost jump out of her elfin face. _

Chapter Twelve

Inside

Characters

Hiko Seijurou-Vampire Leader, General over all Military Forces

Aoshi Shinomori-Major-Commanding Officer over the Slayers–Designation: Stalker One

Kaoru Kamiya-Slayer, Final Level–Designation: Stalker Two

'Cel'-The One--First Leader, The Fang of Pythagoras

Mara Rostovich-Slayer, Fourth Level–Designation: Stalker Twelve

"What do you mean someone has activated the outside doors and the elevator?" Aoshi was shouting into his radio microphone as he rushed toward the complexes central security room and computer monitoring systems. "Shut down the main doors to the living quarters now...... I don't care how you do it, just shut them down! Shut them all down, dammit! Shut everything down!" _'Oh My God! What's happening?' _All of his acutely attuned senses were screamed that danger was approaching, but the technical information he was getting back from his Slayers was not giving him the answers he needed to know. Something was coming, but no one could see it.

__"Kaoru?" He screamed into his microphone as he dodged though a cluster of frightened clinging people. "Stalker One calling Stalker Two... respond!"

"This is Stalker Two...Yes, sir?" Her voice crackled over his earpiece and he silently thanked the Gods that she was still taking _his_ orders.

"What have you got over there? Have you got a breech?"

"No sir. The south gates are closed tight and all of the monitors are reading clear."

"Clear?" He shouted with disbelief. "What in the hell do you mean they are clear? Every proximity warning we have placed on the island is screaming. There has to be _something _on your monitors, dammit! Look again!"

"Hey!" She shouted back in her customary backlash. "I'm not blind, Ok. There's nothing coming down the shaft. It's clear."

"What the fuck is going on, Stalker Two? We have enough alarms going off to signal World War Three... Now where is the attack force coming from? Where's the enemy?" Aoshi skidded to a halt as he entered the monitoring room and then threw the monitoring slayer out of this observation chair without so much as a warning. "Dammit!" He cursed in angry frustration. "I can't see a fucking thing." His nimble fingers started flying over the keyboard bringing up surveillance camera's all over the island, inside the compound hallways as well as the air access ducts. _'Where the hell are you assholes?' _

"First Leader to Slayer One... Major Shinomori, respond." Hiko's strained voice barked in harsh clipped tones over the com-link causing Aoshi to jump as it grated across his jangled nerves.

"This is Slayer One, I read you First Leader. Over."

"Do you know what we are looking at yet, Major? How many are there?"

"I don't know, Sir. I... I can't seem to find any of them." Aoshi knew that sounded stupid, but the same as Kaoru, he couldn't find a damn thing on any of his monitors. The surprise invasion force that the screaming alarms told them was coming was no where to be seen. "This is sure turning into one fucked up evening." He muttered as he pulled up another grid of camera's.

"Excuse me, Major. What did you say?"

"Nothing, Sir." He replied quickly trying to cover up his lapse in communication etiquette. "I am still checking, but so far all of the surveillance data is negative. It says there is no one around and that the grounds are totally clear. I don't understand what's going on, Sir. None of this makes any sense." Sweat poured down the sides of Aoshi's lean face as he searched for the threat his instincts told him was out there but the camera's said wasn't. "I just can't believe that it was all noth..." As his eyes caught sight of something one of the camera's in the north quadrant was picking up, his voice trailed off into chilling silence, and Aoshi Shinomori's mouth dropped open as the breath in his lungs froze and he turned into a statue of stone. __

_'Holy Mother...' _The thought choked and stumbled inside of his mind as struggled to breath but found he could not. _'Mercy... plead mercy for us, Holy Mother, for we are not ready.'_

__"Major? Major Shinomori? What is going on? What happened? Respond?" Anxiety filled the older mans voice as he commanded his younger subordinate to answer, but he received no response. "Stalker One...Respond please! Respond please! Stalker One... Aoshi?!" As the seconds stretched out and the silence lengthened, Hiko had to finally admit that something was wrong. Aoshi would never ignore a direct command to respond. He had to do something so he turned to the only other person he felt was strong enough to deal with the present situation.

"Stalker Two," He called into his com-link. "Kaoru... respond please."

"Stalker Two responding. What's wrong, Papa?"

"It's the Major. He stopped broadcasting mid transmission, and now I can't raise him."

"Let me see if I can, I think I'm closer to him than you are. It might be a malfunction with his antennae." Kaoru adjusted her frequency again and started calling for her commander. "Stalker One, this is Stalker Two... please respond...Major Shinomori can you hear me, Sir?" She waited several seconds and then tried again. "Stalker One can you hear me... please respond Major. Are you there, sir? Are you alright, sir? Stalker One please respond?" Was Aoshi right after all, she wondered as a feeling of deep concern for her Leader filled her chest. Had something slipped past their security nets and invaded the compound? And if so, was Aoshi injured? Worse yet, was he dead?

"Stalker One this is Stalker Two... Major?!" She shouted into her com-link as her emotions rose and overcame her rational training. "AOSHI? Damn you! If you can hear me, say something. Say something so I know you're not dead. Please... for Godsake, say something."

"Kaoru..." The voice she heard crackling over the com-link was barely a shadow of the strong-willed, brave man she knew, and something inside of her shuddered at the subdued almost frightened quality it held now. "He... he's here, Kaoru. The main elevator shaft...north side. He's coming." Aoshi gasped and a soft cry of fear and astonishment shivered over the radio link. "Oh My God... have mercy on us all...we aren't ready... we aren't ready..." Suddenly the com-link turned to static and then it faded into eerie silence. Aoshi was not broadcasting anymore.

"Kaoru?" Her father's uncertain voice crackled in her ear. "Did I hear him right?"

"Yes, Papa." Dark blue eyes rose upward to the ceiling as Kaoru removed her earpiece. "He said 'He's here. Holy Mother have mercy on our souls'."

He heard the heavy 'clang-bang' of the 4inch thick steel doors as they slammed shut below him sealing the living quarters off from the rest of the complex. The sense of panic and terror had increased ten-fold in the last 3-5 minutes and he could feel the clan mobilizing for battle. A half of a smirk curved the corner of his mouth. _'You can't hide from me anymore.' _He thought. _'I am here, and we will be done with this once and for all. Your steel doors are not going to keep me out, and your weapons are not going to harm me. Why are you even doing this?' _It was almost amusing if he were not already so angry. This was foolishness, and he was not in the mood so when the elevator doors opened, he lowered his chin, clasped his hands behind his back, and stepped with cold determination from the box.

_"I'm here." _He whispered sending a vibration through the steel, reinforced hallways shaking the complex like an earthquake shakes a skyscraper. Around him he could hear the frightened voices of crying terrified people and the shouts of soldiers trying to regroup for an assault, but none of it was going to help any of them. He was finished playing their games their way. Ruthless was one thing, but to be ruthless without conscience was unacceptable. It was time for an education.

His slow sure steps carried him toward the huge ten foot by eight foot steel doors and he gazed at them dispassionately as if they were no more than paper-mache'. _'All obstacles built by the foolish can be overcome with the strength of The Mother.' _He thought, as he reached out with one hand and touched the cold smooth steel. __

_"Open." _He commanded simply. _"And let me pass." _

"We're going to die!"

"We are going to be buried alive!"

"The God's have forsaken us!"

Over and over the panicked cries of the clan rose and echoed off the steel beams and panels that supported the roof and walls around them. The great shuddering quake that had rippled through the complex had sent nearly every living soul into a frenzy of terrified madness as they sought to find cover that was not available. Kaoru and Hiko both raced across the main floor into the control room and found Aoshi paralyzed in front of the monitor that was showing the view of the camera just outside of the north doors, and both froze catching their breath.

Kaoru had seen 'Cel' before, but not quite like this. This was 'Cel' in his grandest form and purest power. Blazing red-gold hair hung nearly to the ground, and swung about him like a cloud of burning flames. His golden eyes shone like glittering suns within the perfection of his face, while the daggers of his fangs snapped and gnashed his fury in hissing granduer. He looked like the Devil incarnate, or something much worse. If fear or terror had a physical form, it would have been what stood before them on the monitors screen.

"Oh _simpatie._" She choked as she watched him walk down the hallway toward the steel doors. "What has happened to you?"

"I could never fight him, could I?" Hiko's voice sounded just like Aoshi's had when they heard him over the com-link. "I would not stand a chance."

"No, sir." That same voice spoke again as the shuddering breath escaped the Major's broad chest. "None of us would. He would kill us all."

"But is that what he means to do?"

"No, Papa. I don't believe that."

"I hope you're right, Slayer. If you're not... we may never see another moon." The three Vampires watched 'Cel' reach his hand out toward the massive doors, and then an enormous explosion filled the complex followed by the din of screaming people and the rush of cold air. The compound had been breeched.

"We're all dead men." Hiko hung his head in defeat. "Our bones will be left to become ashes in the sun before nightfall comes."

"Trust him, Papa. You must trust him."

"I can't."


	14. The Way of The Fang

_Lilith: __Known as the Queen of Demons. Lilith is fabled to be the first wife of Adam. Like Adam, she had been created from the dust of the earth. From their union issued the demons of Shdium, who rode about in the world as wicked spirits, persecuted and plagued men, and brought upon them illness, disease, and other sufferings. She was of a wild, heroic, passionate nature and as soon as she joined her 'new' husband, they began to quarrel. Each refused to be subservient and submissive to the other. Adam demanded Lilith give in as he was her Lord and Master, she refused saying became they were both made from the dust they were equal. When neither would relent, she spoke the Ineffable Name of the Creator (The Name of God) and soared up into the air the name having given her great power. Adam begged God to retrieve his disobedient wife, and three angels were sent at once. Senoi, Sansenoi, and Sammangelof were odered to bring Lilith home and if she disobeyed then 100 of her offspring were to die each day. The Angels found Lilith in the middle of the sea. She refused to return to her husband. They threatened to drown her in the sea. To this she said, "Know ye not that I have been created for the purpose of weakening and punishing little children, infants, and babes. I have power over them from the day they are born until they are eight days old if they are boys, and until the twentieth day if they are girls." After the speech the angels tried to drown her but she begged them to let her live and they finally relented. She swore to them in the name of the living God that whenever she came and saw the names of images or faces of these three angels, Senoi, Sansenoi, and Sammangelof, upon an amulet or cameo in the room where there was a child or infant, she would not touch it. But because she did not return to Adam, ever day a hundred of her own children die._

A/N: There are several small references throughout history claiming Lilith to be the 'Mother of Vampires'. During my research into the subject I found two. The general consensus was that she is the 'Howling One' who visits in the nice and feeds on the souls and life's blood of the innocent, meaning small children and babies. She is much like the character of 'Lucy' in Bram Stokers 'Dracula' in that she is wild, passionate, beautiful and often sings and croons to the children she steals. There was no direct reference to her being a vampire but there was no direct description as to just exactly how she drank the blood and souls of her little victims either. There are many gothic portraits painted of her as a voluptuous vampiress wearing the fabled 'Bloodstone' ruby as she emerges from her coffin. Beautiful portrait. This is how I see her, of course, and the reason I chose her to become the Mate of my Pythagoras. Again, this Lilith is purely my own creation and only very loosely based on any theory.

Chapter Thirteen

The Way of The Fang: Part One

The Gift of First Blood

Glossary:HououThe Phoenix (The Mythical Bird of Resurrection),

_"Her name is Lilith." Houou, The One God swept his hand across the shimmering halo of flaming hair that adorned the woman's head, and then gently laid his palm along the delicate line of her cheek. "I have made her from the hopes and desires of men and she is yours, My Son."_

_"Mine?" The great golden eyes stared in wonder at the amazing creature. "How can such a glorious being be mine, Father?"_

_"Because I have made her for you, Pythagoras. She is your Mate."_

_"My Mate?" The towering Archangel looked confused. "She is the one you spoke of before? The one who is to help me create offspring?"_

_"Hai, my son. She is the one."_

_Pythagoras blushed and the sound of tinkling laughter filled the sunshine laced air as the beautiful female turned toward the One God and giggled. "He is very handsome, Father." She said shyly, "but not very smart."_

_"Woman," Pythagoras growled as he warily eyed the green-eyed female from behind his wounded pride. "I am the mightiest of the Archangels, and you will..."_

_"Yes, yes, of course you." Lilith waved her hand through the air brushing his ego aside as easily as she would an annoying insect. "And I am your Mate. If I must help you guard an entire world and create an army of offspring like us, I will not be Lorded over as if I were nothing more than one of Father's minions beneath your boot. My position is just as imperative to the safety of The Mother's children as is yours. Don't think for even a moment you can tell me what to do."_

_"Father!"_

_"Now, now Pythagoras. Lilith is right. If the two of you are going to achieve this goal, you must do it together as partners. You will need her strength beside you not behind you cowering in the shadows. She, and her blood, will be a great deal of what make's you strong. You must accept this, my son. She is your mate, not your servant."_

_"Then she must give as well, Father. I cannot be the only one to accept the position of equality. She must accept also that we are the same and need each other in order to become what is meant of us. She cannot treat me like a fledgling boy to be toyed with."_

_"Yes, you are right also." Houou turned to the wide eyed woman next to him and placed a hand on her slender shoulder. "Lilith, my dear, you must listen to Pythagoras' words and heed their wisdom for he is right. If you wish for him to treat you as an equal in this matter, then you must treat him with the same amount of respect you want to be shown. You mustn't mock him, darling, it's unkind."_

_"I understand, Father, and I will try not to be difficult." But the mischievous twinkle in her emerald eyes told a far different story and The One God frowned slightly. "I don't want to be too complacent," she said with a toss of her glorious flaming mane. "He might get bored."_

_The One God chuckled despite himself and cast a wicked glance toward his gaping son. "She does have a point there, my son." He said as he turned to approach the stunned Archangel. "You wouldn't want her so docile and agreeable with you that nothing interesting ever happened, now would you."_

_"I–I don't understand what you mean, Father." Pythagoras stuttered as his gaze drifted from The One God over to the coyly smiling woman. "What could possibly happen?"_

_"Hmmmm," Houou scratched his chin thoughtfully as he watched the exchange of glances. It was obvious Pythagoras understood the mental and physical mechanics of what a Mate was for, but the emotional and psychological dynamics seemed to be beyond him. "I think, my son, that it is time the two of you bonded and then perhaps things will become more clear to you after that."_

_"Bonded?" The couple turned as one and voiced the question in complete bewilderment._

_"Yes, bonded. How do you think this process is supposed to begin if not by the bonding of 'First Blood'? Or had either one of you even considered that?" By the looks on their faces he could see that neither had not. "I see," Heaving a deep sigh of frustration, Houou clasped his hands behind his back and walked back to Lilith. "Pythagoras, you must take Lilith by the throat and bite her."_

_"Bite her?!" The exclamation was horrified. "But I will kill her if I do that."_

_"No, no. Don't you remember what I told you about the Blood?" Houou spun around and locked gazes with the shocked Archangel. "You never drink to the point of death... never."_

_"But, I..." Pythagoras spread his hands in confusion. "I don't understand. You said to 'create' another I had to all but drain the individual and then let them drink my blood in order to be restored. Must I do this with her as well?"_

_"No, Lilith is already what you are; she is already of the Pure Blood and does not require 'creating'."_

_"Then why must I bite her?"_

_"To bond, my son. You must share your blood with each other and in that way become part of each other. The process will leave your souls forever linked and bound to one another in ways you cannot imagine. Only through this process will Lilith become your true Mate, and then she will belong to you and you alone. None other will ever be able to claim her."_

_"I–I think I understand, but will it not hurt her?" Golden orbs of liquid fire suddenly turned gentle with concern as the towering Archangel gazed tenderly down upon the fragile looking woman. "I do not wish to harm her, Father."_

_"It will hurt, yes, but there is no harm in it and she is not so delicate that you will break her, my son." Houou smiled. The worry and concern reflected on the Angels features were a good sign. "She is going to bear your children after all so she must be able to stand up under a great deal more pain that you simply biting her. Yes?"_

_"Yes." Slowly, placing one foot in front of the other, Pythagorus approached the wide-eyed Lilith and softly placed his hands on her shoulders. Her head reached the middle of his chest and he had to bend down to look into her beautiful face. "Do you accept me?" He asked her in a quiet, solemn voice, and then fell silent waiting for her to answer._

_Lilith trembled beneath the foreign touch of those massive hands. He could crush her by simply flexing his fingers and a tingling of excited fear twisted through her as she considered the implications of mating with such a powerful being. The mere size of him was almost overwhelming and it took every measure of her courage to lift her eyes and meet his golden gaze, but as she did, Lilith caught her breath and stared. Twin pools of liquid amber looked down on her with such tender humility that it made her heart race inside her chest and a lump began forming in the back of her throat._

_"You... you are beautful." She whispered as she lifted a hand and touched his face. "I can see your soul through your eyes, and you are beautiful." Raising up on tip-toe, Lilith dug her free hand into the fall of white hair hanging over his shoulder and pulled him down to meet her. The smooth flesh of their foreheads touched and then pressed firmly together as she slipped both hands around his neck holding him against her so she could rub her face upon his. "My beautiful, beautiful man."_

_"Do you accept me... Lilith?" He choked as his hands slid from her shoulders to cradle her upper torso._

_"Yesssss," She breathed huskily as she massaged his sensitive nape with her fingers and nuzzled her nose along his cheeks and jaw. "I do... Pythagoras." And then, with a passionate gleam in her glorious eyes, Lilith let her head fall back and to the side exposing her throat to her Mate's heated gaze._

_"Beloved." The heat of her rushing blood rose from her creamy white flesh and bathed his face in a wave of fire that sent his senses spinning wildly and Pythagoras felt the fangs inside of his mouth respond in instinctive anticipation. Closing his eyes, he could almost smell the blood, almost taste it upon his tongue, and as the hunger surged through his body over taking his rational mind, he leaned over the woman draped across his arms and buried his mouth in the curve of her throat. The needle edged fangs pierced the tender flesh easily and he moaned a deep, feral sound inside his chest as the first pulse of the thick viscous liquid pumped over his tongue._

The Way of The Fang

Part II: Cel's Rage

The steel doors parted before him like they were made of limp noodles, the heavy metal wrinkling and folding as if crushed by a massive fist of unbelievable power. A billowing rush of cold air blew past him whipping his hair in a dancing swirl of red and gold ropes. The sound of more than a thousand cried of fear surged outward with it assailing his sensitive hearing like fingernails scratching the surface of a chalkboard, and Cel cringed mildly at the unexpected irritation.

_'Your paltry fears are not going to save you from my anger, little people.' _He growled deep inside of his fury filled mind. _'Too long have you lived in the darkness believing you are omnipotent and above the laws of the living. Too long have you considered your souls more pure, more valuable, and more supreme than those you were meant to protect. Have you forgotten your purpose in this world?!' _

__The fury of his wrath slammed through the jagged opening of what was once the impenetrable North Gate. The level of terror inhabiting the compound increased a thousand fold as the heat of his presence seared their conscious minds with visions of unspeakable carnage.

_'This is what you will suffer if you continue along the pathway of indiscretion you have chosen. The Holy War will descend upon you and the Mother will abandon you to the merciless hands of The Made, and you will perish because you have no true Leader among you. You follow a man who holds only the lives of the Pure Bloods as sacred. To him no other life is worth saving... including my own.'_

__Cel stepped through the doorway and strode across the debris laden floor. The wild, flaming orbs of his liquid gold eyes quickly surveyed his surroundings and a wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Everywhere he looked there were huddled figures trying to hide in small masses, Slayers standing with weapons drawn in trembling hands, and dozens of other terrified souls running hither and yon searching for a sanctuary. It was pathetic.

"Where are you going to hide?!" He shouted as he threw his arms out, hands open and claw-tipped fingers spread. "Where can you go that you believe I will not find you, eh?!" The sound of his voice was like hollow thunder as it boomed through the complex and echoed of the steel reinforced walls and ceilings. "There is no where to run, little people of the night. No where to hide, no where to find freedom or solace from my judgement and wrath. I am bound to you by the right of the blood that flows through my veins, and I will see justice served upon you all for the sins committed against the innocent. You will be punished and then you will understand what it means to truly value Life. I swear it!"

"Who are you to stand it judgement upon us, Abomination?!" The disembodied voice rumbled through the complex as it shouted its challenge from the loud speakers located along the ceiling and support girders. "You are nothing! You are a weakling, a half-breed daywalker with no claim to this people or any other. So I say stand down and remove yourself from this compound. You are not welcome among us."

"Dear God, Papa," Kaoru turned and stared at her father in abject horror. "What are you doing?"

"Proving to you that this demon's spawn cannot be trusted, Kaoru."

"How is defying him and attempting to cast him out going to prove his is untrustworthy? All you are doing is bringing his wrath down upon _your _head."

"I know." Hiko looked intently at the figure on the monitor waiting to see what its response would be. "If he is the man you believe him to be, he will leave."

"No, he won't." Kaoru reached out and grabbed her father by the arm and yanked him around until he faced her. "He is an honorable man, Papa. He will not back down from what he believes is right."

"Do you believe his is right, Kaoru? Do you believe we have sinned against the humans all these centuries by not trying to put a stop to Uriel's kind and their spread? Do you?"

"I– I don't know, but I do know that The Made out number us by more than 10 to one, and if we were to go to war now, we would lose. They would wipe us out utterly and completely and there would be no defense between them and the humans at all. Is that what you want?" Her silver-blue eyes bore hard into the glittering emerald jewels and Kaoru thought she saw a flicker of indecision for a moment, but then it was gone.

"You don't know that for a certainty, daughter." Hiko could feel his resolve slipping a fraction and he scrambled frantically within himself to regroup. "I will not abandon this people to the whims of a being whose blood is impure."

"General, sir... if I may." Aoshi somehow found his voice and, although it was a tremendous struggle, he knew he had to do something to help diffuse this situation before it became anymore explosive. "You continue to spout the same rhetoric without any basis for it."

"Rhetoric, Major?" The fury in the larger man's voice was tangible but the slender, blue eyed Slayer did not flinch or waver beneath it.

"Yes, Sir. Rhetoric."

"You best explain yourself very quickly, Major, or I am liable to tear your head off and wait for explanations until later."

"Of course, I understand. I meant no disrespect, Sir, only that you seem to be so set against this man you are unwilling to see him for what he is despite the facts and the prophecy which have been shown to you time and time again. It is not logical for you to behave this way and it is clearly out of character for you. I have known you my entire life, General Seijuro, and I have never known you to behave in such an irrational manner before."

"I do not believe I am behaving irrationally, Major."

"But you are, Sir." Aoshi turned to face the monitor and pointed to the figure that stood calmly waiting, his hands once more clasped behind his back. "You, yourself, were punished by his shield aura around your daughter when you threatened her. You have felt the magnitude of his power. We all saw him destroy the North Gate with nothing but the touch of his hand, and he is the blood decedent of King Maxmillion... the only one."

"That means nothing..."

_"It means everything, my stubborn vampire general." _ The voice of Cel suddenly appeared inside of Hiko's mind and the large man stumbled backward as the shock of hearing it turned his knees to water. _"Why are you so set against me, Leader? Why does the weave of my blood cause you such pain?"_

__"You are unclean!" Hiko cried as his hands rose to grab the sides of his head. "You are not one of us... you are a halfling!"

_"Am I?" _The voice grew soft and almost soothing for a moment and then Hiko screamed as it tore a pathway of fire through his skull. _"For One will come whose blood will be thick with the Power of the Old Ways. His fangs will be long as shining swords and he shall wreck death and mayhem among the unclean that infest our world, and he will bring The Blood of Justice to the Pure of Heart. He will bring the Holy War and with it Vengeance for the blasphemies and treasonous murders. Look for The One where the Dark World and the World of The Living cross over into the light of the darkness. Look for him far to the future in a time where mortal men fly like ravens' and paintings speak with the voices of the living."_

The wall around the control room exploded and the four vampires inside were suddenly exposed to the rest of the compound. Aoshi and Kaoru were kneeling beside the writhing body of their General while the operations officer sat cowering in the corner. None knew what had happened to the big man to cause such a sound of pain and terror, but they all knew only too well what had ruptured the structure. Cel stood almost majestically on the other side looking down at them with pity filled eyes.

"Simpatie?" Kaoru's voice was tremulous as she met the powerful golden eyes. "Why...."

"Move away from him, Lubit." Again the deep almost hollow voice spoke and both Kaoru and Aoshi moved, their faces clouded with concern.

"My Lord," The humble tones of Aoshi's deep tenor captured Cel's attention and the golden haired vampire turned to look at the dark-haired man. "Do not be harsh with this man, I beg of you. He has been a fair minded and courageous leader these 600 years while we have waited for you. He just does not understand..."

"He understands, Aoshi Shinomori." Cel spoke in an honorable voice as he placed a clawed hand on the stunned vampires shoulder. "But he refuses to accept that which is set before him because it is not of the design he believed it would be. Do not fear for his life, my friend, he is far too useful to me for me to do anything so foolish as to kill him."

"I–thank-you, My Lord." Aoshi bowed in respectful deference still shocked that the being before him had spoken his full name without ever having heard it before. _'He must be able to hear every thought we have, or at the very least glean the information from us that he desires as he needs it. Astonishing.'_

__Cel knelt down beside the writhing body of Hiko Seijruo and laid a hand upon the white-haired vampires chest. Immediately the writhing stopped.

_'Know you those words I spake to you, Gallion, Master of The Horse?'_

_'Desigur, I know them.'_

_'You were there that day, weren't you? The day Nadia Corban stood dying among the dead on the battlefield and The One God used her as his tool of prophecy? You heard her speak the words that foretold the coming of 'The One'?'_

_'Desigur, I was there. I heard her voice speak them with my own ears.'_

_'Understand you the words of the Prophecy, Master of The Horse?'_

_'I–'_

_'Understand you?!'_

_'I believed I did.'_

_'What does it mean then to 'Look for The One where the Dark World and the World of The Living cross over into the light of the darkness.'?' _

_'I– I do not know. I–'_

_'If a man of the Pure Blood were to stand within the light of the morning sun, what would happen to him?'_

_'He would wither into ashes.'_

_'Desigur, as would any man of The Made. There is not one vampire among the two existing species that may cross over into the world of the light or stand within the cross-section of the dawn or the dusk without dying. Is this not true?'_

_'Desigur. It is true. No one of us may stand in the new or failing light without death.'_

_'Then how may you look for The One where the world of the light crosses over into the world of the darkness unless he is able to stand inside of both? Answer me this, and if you can, I will leave and trouble you and yours no more. But, if you cannot answer, then as the man of honor your heart and soul show you to be, you must withdraw and accept what is before you as the truth.'_

_'I–'_

_'Is this not a fair agreement, Master of The Horse?'_

_'Desigur, it is fair.'_

_'Very well then, explain to me how The One can appear within the world of flying machines, and talking pictures and not be a man of the future?'_

_'I– I cannot. He would have to be a man of this time if he is to follow accordingly with the prophecy. This is the only place we could find him. In this future where all of those things are possible."_

_'Agreed. And if The One's blood is to be thick with the power of the old ways and he is to bring the Blood of Justice to the Pure of Heart as he leads his people into the Holy War against those who have blasphemed against the innocent, then he must be of the old blood. The blood of the Corban's. Desigur?'_

_'D–desigur. I cannot dispute that. The Corban's are the oldest clan among us. They are the direct descendants of the God of Darkness himself, Pythagoras, and his bride, Lilith. They have the purest blood. The One would almost have to be one of their progeny. It is the most logical answer.'_

_'Agreed. If a man is born to lead does he follow his destiny or does he turn away and hide his head because he cannot face what he is? Does he stand up and embrace the gifts that have been harbored for him, or does he shirk his position and ignore the call of fate? How does he accept that there is not one other being in the universe who is the same as he? How does he accept that despite being the sum of two separate peoples he is an outcast to both because he is neither? How does this man lead if those he is sent to lead refuse to believe he is the one they have been looking for?'_

_'I–I do not understand. What...'_

_'Only a child born of the light and the dark combined can stand in the cross-section and survive. Only a child contrived of both species can hope to achieve the strength and flexibility required to cross over between the two worlds and live as one or the other. And only this child has the ability to understand both the future and the past, and only he can bring the peoples together to form the army necessary to rid the world of the pestilence YOUR kind created in the first place. Is there one among you now who can do any of those things, Master of the Horse? Can YOU do any of those things, Hiko Seijuro, General of The Pure Blood Armed Forces? Can you lead your people into the Holy War and survive against an army of two-hundred million?'_

_'Two-hundred million?' _Hiko shuddered as Cel fed his stunned mind a horrifying vision of the millions upon millions of Made that infested the Earth, and he rolled onto his side vomiting on the floor. _'By the Mother, I did not know there were so many.'_

_'And more every day.'_

_'Inconceivable. We are like mice hiding in a field beneath the Eagles eyes.'_

_'Perhaps, but it does not have to be so.'_

_'How do we fight so many?'_

_'Together, my friend. We fight them together.'_

_'Tell me how,' _Pain filled green eyes opened and gazed in humbled acquiescence at the incredible being leaning over them. _'Forgive me...'_

__A gentle smile curved the be-fanged mouth and the raging inferno within the golden eyes dimmed as Cel slipped his hand beneath Hiko's neck. "There is nothing to forgive, my friend." He whispered quietly as he lifted the large man up towards his chest. "There is only trust and faith now for us to share and I will be the first."

"What?"

"Drink, Master Gallion." Cel brushed the flaming silken tresses off his own throat and bared it to the astonished vampire. "Drink from me and know what I know."

"But, I can't. I– you're not..."

"Desigur, you can." One of the needle sharp talons punctured the flesh over his jugular and the blood welled outward, pouring down his throat. "Drink and learn. It is the only way."

The scent of Cel's blood was unlike anything Hiko had ever known. It was sweet, seductive, and smelt of an ancient flavor than no one had tasted in centuries. It was intoxicating and his senses swam in a dizzying spiral as the thirst rose to consume his rational mind and the fangs inside his mouth grew in response to the natural need.

"The blood," He chocked as his tongue flickered across the wound and lapped up a fraction of the hot, smoldering liquid. "It's alive..." The 'zing' of electricity that flashed through his system jolted Hiko into a world where nothing existed except a fog of red haze and the scent of Cel's blood. A groan of hunger that came from the deepest reaches of his soul climbed free of his throat as his hand fisted itself deep into the fiery golden locks that brushed against his cheek, and then he was pulling the exposed wound down to his open mouth and sinking his fangs into the pliant tissues as deeply as his gums would allow. The blood surged over his tongue and down his throat like a hot river of pure molten sensation and with it came something he didn't expect. With it came the knowledge.

_'Know what I know, see what I see... and believe.'_

Around the two huddled bodies were gathered the members of the Clan. Men, women, children, and every slayer that had stood a post. Murmurs of confusion and worry filtered through the mass of vampires as they watched the scene unfolding before them. None had been privy to the mental conversation between Cel and their Leader, and none understood the significance of what was happening now. None but Kaoru.

"What is happening, Slayer?" Aoshi's face was a mask of confusion as he laid a hand on her arm. "What is he doing?"

"Offering his knowledge, Major." She replied in a humble and respectful tone as she turned liquid silver eyes to face her bewildered friend. "He is sharing his knowledge about the past, the future, The Made, and himself... everything. It is the only way to be sure the General truly understands what must be, and why."

"You... you did this, didn't you?"

"Desigur, I did. But with us, as Mates, it was different. A different kind of knowledge, but the premise is the same. We shared pieces of our souls as well as knowledge. I do not believe this joining will go quite that deep." Aoshi nodded his understanding though his face remained one of concern.

Inside of Hiko's mind the universe was splintering into a kaleidoscope of fragmented pieces, and as the blood filled the empty core of his soul, he saw for the first time the future that held the promise of The Holy War. He saw the legions of The Made's Army stretching so far into the horizon that their end could not be discerned, and he saw his own forces marching bravely out to face them. Their own vast numbers shrinking into insignificance by the sheer magnitude of The Made. And then he was whiplashed back into another reality where the world was bathed in a sea of blood and Gustov Uriel sat upon a throne made of human skulls.

Death, disease, famine and near genocide ruled the once beautiful green planet, and the only emotions left to feel were misery and despair. Humans were caged and corralled like animals. Fed and grown solely for the purpose of feeding their ravenous masters and providing progeny when and if the time called for it. They were disgusting and putrid creatures with less than half the intelligence of the cows they were replacing, and the world was a ruin of itself.

And then before him appeared the face of a man that could only be called glorious. His eyes were the color of gold the same as Cel's, but his hair was the purest of white Hiko could ever remember seeing. Behind him two great wings of blackest-red beat the air until it thundered with the tremendous force. He was magnificent, and as he opened his mouth to speak, the twin daggers of his fangs winked like the shimmering blades of the sharpest swords.

_'You must learn The Way of The Fang, my son, and with it learn the reason for the downfall of our people for you wallow in the evil of Lucifer's own sin and what is wrong must be set aright.'_

_'Whoo...'_

_'You know who I am, Gallion, son of Stevros. I am the All Father and I have come to teach you the ways that have been lost.'_

_'Pythagorasss... Holy Mother!'_

_'The Way of The Fang was passed to me by The One God, Houou, My Father, and it was passed from me to my children, but during the age of the Crusades a deviation occurred in the process of The Way and blaspheme entered our world tainting our bloodlines forever.'_

_'The Made.'_

_'Desigur, my son. One named Milos, my very own son, was the first to commit the sin of drinking to the point of death and then offering his blood as means to set right the wrong he had done. Thus began our decent into Hell."_

_'I do not understand. What does it mean, 'the sin of drinking to the point of death?' I have never heard this before, Great One.'_

_'It is the Law of The Pure Bloods given to me by The One God the day he made me God and Guardian of the Dark World.'_

_'Guardian? What is this? There is no reference to this in the Holy Archives.'_

_'Desigur. I and my kind are sworn to guard the Gates of Hell and protect the Mother and her children. That is our purpose, why we exist, why we live in the darkness so we can defend against the creatures that lurk there. But Milos' sin tainted our oath and opened the gates of Hell leaving the Mother and her humans vulnerable to all manner of evil, and only one who can cross the barrier of Hell into the Mother's world of the living can cleanse the way and restore our honor and our oath again.'_

_'Cel? You speak of 'Cel'.'_

_'Desigur, The One is among you and with him comes all the power of my heart and soul. He is the Savior who will cleanse the stain from our spirits, but only if The Way of The Fang is restored. Do you understand, Gallion, son of Stevros?'_

_'I am trying, Great One, but how did we descend into Hell? I do not feel as though I have been existing in Hell. Please explain this to me that I might explain to others.'_

_'As it was told to me I will speak it to you. Listen and learn well, my son, for I will not be with you again.'_

_'I understand, Great One. I will remember.'_

_'The One God spoke to me and said, 'You must never allow, under any cause or reason, the spilling of innocent blood. All life is sacred and the living blood that flows through a body's veins carries the energy of the innocent soul. If it is taken unto the point of death for no other reason than food or sport, the being who has tasted of it will become tainted with the evil of Lucifer's own sin.'_

_'Blaspheme! We have all killed humans at one time or another in our lives, but we did not know it was a sin. What is this 'Lucifer's sin' you speak of, Great One?'_

_'When I asked that question of The One God this is what he spake to me, 'Envy, jealousy, greed... lasciviousness. One sin rides upon the back of the other until the purity of a soul becomes black and heavy with the burden. Murder and betrayal are the greatest sins in the universe, my son. Do not allow your people to fall prey to the pathway that leads to them._ _For upon the day that you or any of yours forget the value of a soul, Hell will rise up and consume your progeny completely.'_

_'Holy Mother...'_

_'You will be consumed with arrogance, self-pride, and omnipotence and the world around you will become nothing more than a means to take from and survive. This and these are the sins that Lucifer, my own brother, has bequeathed to my progeny because of the broken Oath.'_

_'We are all guilty in the eyes of The One God. The sanctity of a human has never been something that was even discussed during our teaching lessons with our young. We have taught that we do not need the blood to live and we would rather find another way to sustain our existence, but we have never spoke against the killing of humans. My daughter's Mate is right. A great wrong has been committed against these people and we must set it aright, Great One. The rift must be mended.'_

_'Learn The Way of The Fang, Gallion, son of Stevros. Learn and know what I know.'_

_'Teach me, Great One. What is The Way of The Fang?'_

_'Any living being may become a pure blood, my foolish minded son, it takes only the sharing of the blood to illicit the change.'_

_'But...'_

_'LISTEN! A true vampire has the essence within them, within their bite to change a human creature's blood. That is The Way. Never drink to the point of death, for if the entire spirit must be altered then an abomination will be born. A dead body with a half spirit requiring the blood of the living to continue its own existence. WE do not require blood to exist. We crave it because of our nature, but we do not need it.'_

_'You mean, we are all born of... of humans?'_

_'Desigur. You are born of humans turned Pure Blood by the bite alone. Do you not see that it would have been impossible for my bride and I to populate an entire species of soldiers to guard the Mother alone? We had to have an alternate way to assist us.'_

_'But, but humans?'_

_'All life is sacred, Gallion, son of Stevros. All life especially that which is the most innocent. Those who are weak and unable to defend themselves are the purest and the most innocent... our children. The Mother's children. We are the Guardian's of The Mother's children. Do you understand now?'_

_'God help me, I do.'_

_'Is there shame in who you are, my son, or where your blood comes from?'_

_'I– where does my blood come from, Great One?'_

_'A human named Atilla the Hun. A great Hun from the long forgotten eastern world. You are the progeny of one of his unnamed sons but whose mother called him... Stevros.'_

_'My own father?!'_

_'Desigur. Your father.'_

_'I never knew. I – I never knew.'_

_'Is there shame in your blood, son of Stevros?'_

_'Nu. There is no shame in my blood.'_

_'Do you find shame in my progenies blood, son of Stevros? Do you look at my son, Cel, and see shame?'_

_'Oh God... What have I done?'_

_'Nothing, Gallion, my beloved. You have done nothing, but now you must go back and take your place... at his side.'_

_'Desigur, Great One. He is meant to be First Leader, not I. He is The Mighty Fang. He is The One. I have been wrong, may God and the Mother forgive me.'_

_'There is nothing to forgive, Hiko Seiguro. Just learn and remember, my son. Remember what we know and hold all life sacred as it was meant to be. The time of The Blood Born is upon you and The Fang of Pythagoras walks among you. Serve him well.'_

_'I will, Great One. I swear it on the blood of my father. I will.'_

_TBC_

_A/N: Atilla the Hun's descendants invaded Romania in the ninth century and the Tartars invaded in the thriteenth. There is no clear Monarchy named until the year 1415 when a European Royal family came to rule at Brandenburg, Prussia. Fredrick I is the first documented ruler of this highly fragmented country after the middle ages. From the 7th century to the 13th there is no clear establishment of hierarchy. Although it appears that the country underwent a series of rather devastating invasions including raids from the Vikings, the Arabs, and the Turks. No wonder these poor people are so repressed these days. What a violent and despairing history._

_Review Response:_

_Fanfiction_

_Lere: Here you are again. This is the second post/review for you on this story. LOL Don't you ever get tired of re-reading the stuff I write?_

_Psychotic catser: You crazy little woman. People are going to start thinking you're on speed the way you type. LOLOLOL. God, I love your reveiws. They make me smile, laugh, and just generally feel better about everything. God Bless you, you little tazmanian devil._

_Rain Angst: My fall cabin is in full color. So glad to see you over here. Didn't know you had a taste for the bloody and undead? Wink. Love you, dear one. Always warm spot in my heart for you. Make some hot chockolate... I'm coming for a visit. :)_

_Ngurardian: Here I am talking to you on-line and writing a response to your review at the same time. The THIRD response. LOLOLOL.... You are the best. One of my dearest and most beloved friends. Always._

_YamiHikariSakura: Thank you for your kind words, Yami. You are quite right about the flow. That is one of the things I am working on and trying to polish as an author. Thank you for being honest. It is greatly appreciated. God Bless. Tsuki-san_

_Belledaynight: Oh Belle, my sweet belle. I need to get off my ass and read your updates. And I also need to get up off my other ass and write those two chapters for you. Eeeeeep!_

_I'm glad you like Sano. He's one of my favorite characters in this story. I'm planning on having fun with him. God Bless, sweet friend. I promise I'm getting to work this week for sure._

_Luraia Soul: Hope you're still loving it! :)_

_Paisita: Thank you, and you are most welcome. LOL. Sorry for the long delay in getting the new chapter up, but the writers block has been horrible. I hope you are still out there waiting for me. I love your reviews. Your english is getting so much better. I'm proud of you. :)_

_Zop: A filler? Well, yes and no. It was a filler in that it had some very necessary and important transitional information in it, but it's not a filler because of the significance of that information. I hope you enjoyed the chapter I just posted._

_Sephiress: Okay, little girl. Everyone is finally together, but you still gonna have to wait for formal introductions until a little bit later. wink sorry... Love you. Miss you too. Hope you are doing okay. Haven't heard from you for a while._

_Ixchen: Hope you think this chappy was just as good. Keep reading. wink I love your reviews wherever they pop up._

_And God Bless everyone else how stops to read. May a few more of you drop me a few words and let me know what you're thinking. Tsuki-san_

_MediaMiner_

_Elisa ang: Thank you, my friend, for the compliment on what you call talent and I call hard work. I hope you are still out there reading and enjoying this story. God Bless._

_Nguardian: Once more you follow me across the webb, dear friend. And once more you speak words that bring warmth and encouragement to this old lady's heart. Thank you for all you are and all you do for me. You are a treasure._

_Sarcastic Sympathy: Thank you for the encouragement and kind words. I have posted this on Fanfiction and the response has been fair. It is such a detailed and in depth type story to read that is just doesn't appeal to that large of a crowd. I'm fairly satisfied with the response I have gotten. The reviews are positive and solid. Thank you for your support._

_Shatteredjade: You made me blush and I had to set at the computer for at least a full 3 minutes before I could think of anything to say back to your review. Thank you for what you said about my work. As for the happenings with the Archangels, everything about them is my own creation except their names and their gifts. Those I gleaned from one of my favorite books: Spirit Guides and Angel Guardians by Richard Webster. The story of Lucifer's fall is only very loosely based on the Biblical discussion of the Fall of Heaven when the Devil was cast out with his host. As for him being an Archangel, that is my own imagination as are the gifts I gave him. Pythagoras, too, is purely of my own creation, but the other 7 Archangels are real and do inhabit a brotherhood called 'The Presence'._

_Dana: Hey, I'm flattered you like my Vamp story! And I'm soooo happy you liked it enough to stop and tell me so since you don't usually like fanfiction vampire stories. That is sooo kewl! I hope you're still out there reading it. God Bless._

_Thank you to all of the other readers who stop by and enjoy what I have written here. Maybe a few of you will stop long enough to drop me a couple of words and let me know what you think. God Bless, Minna-san._

_Adult Fanfiction_

_Tease Me: So sorry it took me so long. Writers block from hell, you know. I hope you're still out there waiting and reading. _

_Girl from Ipanema: There's my girl. You know, I don't know if I ever said thank-you for all your help in promoting me on 'Guilty Pleasure's'... but, thank you. And thanks for the grammar advice. I'll try to keep it mind, but I'm such a ditz, heaven knows I'll probably forget. :)_

_Lere: I hope this answered all your questions, dearest. Cel was having a bit of a breakdown trying to deal with the fact that he murdered an innocent man, even if it was in defense of his Mate. Moral issues are always the hardest to come to terms with. Love you, sweet friend. _

_Kao-girl: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'm glad you think my Kenshin/Cel is cool. And how long is this story going to be?? VERY LONG..._

_Cattidono: Catti-love, you sweet woman. Have I told you lately how wonderful you are and how much I love you? You and Lere are my anchors in this world. Sorry, no update for the Black Hawke yet, but I did update the Bad Kid and this story. That has to count for something. :)_

_De Lazy Lime: Aloha! Are you from Hawaii you cute thing?? I have some very, very special Hawaiian friends who live in Utah, and Hawaii is one of my fav places. Went there once about 20 years ago. It probably looks a lot different now. LOL It is so good to see and HEAR from you, love. God Bless and hope you liked the chappy._

_Nguardian: My sweet, sweet friend. I see you everywhere I go. You are like a ray of sunshine to me... did you know that? I feed on the things you say to me, and you always have something to say that helps me get through. God Bless and much love._

_Kaoru-chan: My sweet tweety girl. You are one of my little lights also. You bring me so much joy when I need it the most. God Bless sweet friend. Hope you liked the story._

_And for all of those readers and fans who come back to partake of my humble offerings without leaving a review, I still extend my deepest appreciations and heartfelt thanks to you. You guys are what keeps me writing. Arigato._


	15. The Way of The Fang Continues

A/N: Cel is in his fully realized form, and as such, he calls everyone by their full given name. That is because he becomes immediately mind-bonded to any individual he comes in contact with, and their name is the first piece of information he gleans from them. It is his way of showing them that he is superior despite his so-call 'half-breed' lineage. It is one of the powers/gifts that makes him what he is; The Almighty Fang. He is the 'Savior' of the Pure Bloods and the Humans, therefore, he is gifted with many supernatural powers. Mind-bonding, reading, and manipulation are but a few of his unique powers. We already know he can jump higher than any other Vampire, he can fly, he has the gift of telekenesis (he moved the northgate with his mind), and he can move faster than time (runs really, really fast). He can also warp from one plane of consciousness to another at will and has the knowledge of the old ways fully at his disposal. That is how Hiko was able to contact Pythagoras through the blood-bond. Cel has memories of the ancient ones and his mind is like an archive. He is irrevocably bound to his mate and she to him.

Glossary: LubitBeloved/Precious, Simpatie-Love, IndragostitLover, Desigur-Yes, Nuno, TovarusFriend

Chapter 14

The Way of The Fang

Part III: A Leader's Understanding

Cel

Kaoru Kamiya

Hiko Seijuro

Aoshi Shinomori

A shuddering sigh escaped the gapping mouth of Cel as the deeply imbedded fangs of the vampire general pulled free of his throat. A rush of dizziness washed across him like a great wave of warm water, and as his head drooped to one side, his eyes rolled back into his head. Swaying from the loss of blood required to prepare and teach Hiko, he felt the sensation of becoming separated from himself and his vision began to dim. So much more had been required than he thought, but it was a necessary sacrifice he would willingly make again if need be. He would bleed himself dry if it meant saving humanity and the souls of his own people. But as his mouth smacked dry as a desert, fatigue rose from the core of him and all he could comprehend was he needed to sleep. His body was spent and he needed to rest.

"_Simpatie_!" The anxious cry of his Mate sounded far away as he felt himself slipping beneath the fog of unconsciousness, and although he knew he should try and reassure her that all was well, he realized there was not enough time, and then his world went dark. "Kenshin!"

"What's wrong? What's happening to him? " Aoshi flew to Cel's side and swiftly knelt next to him as he slipped into unconsciousness. "My Lord?" He cried as he lifted the slender shoulders back into his arms and gazed fearfully down into the glorious face. "My Lord Cel, can you hear me? Holy Mother, Kaoru, what's happening to him?"

"He's given too much blood, Aoshi." Kaoru's voice was sharp with her level of concern for her mate as she leaned over his body and cupped his face in her hands. "He offered everything he had trying to help Papa understand, and he's almost dry. Dammit!"

"What can we do? Tell me what to do."

"You can't do anything, Aoshi. It is for me to do." Shimmering silver eyes bore harshly into the intensity of icy blue as Kaoru pulled the leather sleeve up baring her wrist. "Just hold him for me, that is what you need to do for now."

"Of course. Do I need to tip his head back?"

"_Desigur_. Just a bit." And as Aoshi dropped Cel's head back, Kaoru flashed her fingernails before his face showing that in the passage of only an instant they had changed into something resembling small daggers. Then with one swift slashing motion she drew her index finger across the wrist, cutting it in one clean motion. Placing the open wound over her mate's lax lips, she allowed the hot liquid to drip inside of his mouth as quickly as her heart would pump it in. "Swallow, _simpatie_." she whispered fervently. "Please swallow and come back to us. We need you now, not in a few days. Come back, Kenshin." Kaoru's voice took on an urgent note as she cupped the back of his head and buried her face in his hair. "Come back to me, _simpatie_. I need you too."

He was just setting alone in the gray dimness of his mind when it found him. The small bouncing ball of silver light that came swirling out of the misty reaches came straight to him and began dancing a wild circle around his head. A smile of pure love and joy crossed his face as the shimmering ball of iridescence coaxed him to follow it on a merry pathway back out into the world of life and breath. Somehow he knew it was only going to be a matter of time before it came for him as it was, so he stood up and brushed his hands off on his pants and started up the path. It would not take long to go back where he was needed. Just a short journey really. A few steps, and then...

"I knew you wouldn't let me stay gone for long, _Lubit_." The gentle touch of Cel's hand pulled Kaoru away as the raspy words filtered out between his teeth, and although the voice was strained, it was stronger than either of the two Slayer's were prepared for.

"My Lord Cel," Aoshi raised the man up into a more convenient sitting position while supporting his shoulders with his arm. "Are you alright? You gave us a terrible fright, Sir."

"Ah, forgive me, Aoshi Shinomori. I did not mean to cause alarm, but sometimes it takes a great sacrifice to achieve that which must be done. "

"But did you have to share so much blood in order to achieve the goal you sought, My Lord? It seemed you very nearly died from this sacrifice."

"No, my _tovaras_. I would not have died from this sacrifice though it was, indeed, more than I thought it would be. Rather, I would have drifted in limbo for a time until my system was repaired or restored, but death would not have been my companion, so rest your mind on that count."

Aoshi sighed in great relief and the arm that supported Cel seemed to grip him a fraction tighter. "I am grateful to know that, My Lord. Very grateful, but you are certain you are all right at this moment?"

"_Desigur_, _tovaras_, thanks to my _Lubi_t." His arms reached out at that point and filled themselves with the body of his ebon haired mate whose face had become streaked with tears of both relief and happiness. "Kaoru..." Cel breathed the beloved name into the curve of her throat and shoulder. "My beautiful _Lubit_, how I have missed you this day."

"You have?" The hitch in her voice made his arms squeeze her more tightly.

"_Desigu_r. I may not be able to let you out of my sight more than an hour or two, _Simpatie. _I–I don't want to be alone without you so long again." The halting admission made him sound just a bit insecure and Kaoru pressed a reassuring kiss into his cheek.

"And we do not want to be without you so long again either, My Lord Cel." The deep baritone voice of Hiko Seijuro drifted over to and surrounded the three vampires causing them to shift and meet his stalwart gaze. "I have committed many wrongs in my lifetime, My Lord, but none so heinous or shameful as those I have committed against you. I come before you now, Great One, as your servant though I am unworthy to be even that. In the old days I served your Great-Grandfather, King Maxmillion, and then your Grandfather, Prince Crede. In my way I have always served the Corban's and their bloodline because that was my families destiny from the beginning. But in all that time not one of us has ever tasted a single drop of the ancient blood. Not until today, and as I lay in your arms drinking the knowledge of your linage, I was gifted with a vision that I could no more deny, than I could deny my own King."

"Vision?" Kaoru moved to kneel next to her father, gently touching his arm. "What did you see, Papa?"

"I saw 'The All Father' himself, and he spoke to me."

"You saw– you saw Pythagorus? You saw the God of The Dark World?"

"_Desigur_, and he called me by name, and sited my lineage to me."

"He told you where your blood comes from?" Kaoru sounded incredulous as she stared at her father's contrite face. "But I thought we were always pure bloods? That we all came from his bloodline."

"_Nu,_ it is not so. I have learned the secret that has been lost. I have learned The Way of The Fang, and in doing so, I have discovered The Great Sin we are all guilty of, and until we find a way to cleanse the path between our people and The One God, we will be doomed to fall beneath the boot of Uriel's wrath."

"We are _all_ guilty?" Kaoru's face was a mask of confusion and only Aoshi's appearance could be said to look any worse. The poor slayer looked as if he had just swallowed a rotten egg... whole.

"_Desigur, Lubit_." Cel replied to his mate and then he reached out and offered his hand to Hiko. "So, you finally understand, Leader? The way has become clear to you?"

"_Desigur_, Great One. And I am ashamed. You are the way to our salvation and I named you 'Abomination' when it is we who are the tainted ones. How can you ever forgive me for my narrow minded foolishness, My Lord?"

"Forgiveness is a simple task, Leader, but can you not see, it is not my forgiveness you require at this moment. It is your own. Now that you see and understand your folly, you and I can step forward into the light of knowledge together and set right that which has been made wrong. Do you see this?"

"I– I am not sure. There is so much I do not yet understand, Great One. So much that must change, so much to do and so little time."

"That is a truer statement than you know, Leader. There is not much time, but there are more allies available to us than you are aware of, and that gives us an advantage. What you must learn now is Trust and Faith. Without these two things our people will be defeated before we ever see the great battle."

"What allies do you speak of?" Hiko exchanged bewildered looks with the two confused slayers. "Who are they? How do we find them?"

"They are all around us, Leader. They are everywhere you and yours exist." As the light of understanding continue to fail his companions, Cel finally shook his head in exasperated defeat. Chuckling with good natured frustration, he grasped Hiko's arm again and stared him dead in the eyes. "The Human's, General Seiguro. We have the Human's, and there are far more of them than there are of the Made. Even more than two hundred million."

"The Human's." The face of enlightenment shone brightly on the astonished vampires face as he smacked his forehead. "Mother help us. I never thought of that."

"Now you have, and we have much to do. _Desigur?_"

"_Desigur,_ Great One. WE have much to do."

The Way of The Fang

Part IV: Together Again

Cel

Kaoru Kamiya

Cel was exhausted and it showed in his face and step as he tried to maintain a strong presence among the awed Pure Blood community. The initial fear and confusion was wearing off and the people were beginning to approach him with tentative looks and wary touches almost as if they were not quite sure he was real. But the innate gentleness of his heart showing through the gleaming golden eyes bid them come forward and feel the silken mass of his near floor length hair, examine the milky daggers inside his mouth, and freely stroke the long razor talons gracing each fingertip.

He had proved to them beyond any doubt that he was the superior being and the strongest male among their ranks, and thus established his claim to the right of First Leader without contestation or dispute. Now, he stood quietly and proved to them that he meant them no harm, that it was his responsibility to protect and care for them.

"Forgive my anger, but it was necessary to gain the attention of those I needed to contact. Please try to understand," he said as he touched first one face and then another. "I am here as your teacher as well as your leader, and there is so much for all of you to learn, so much for you to know... there is so much that has been lost."

"Lost?"

"Lost? What has been lost?"

"What do you mean by 'lost' Great One?"

"What have we lost?"

"How do we get it back?"

Questions from every direction bombarded the golden-eyed vampire. Confusion and distress lay written on the faces around him and the feelings of anxiety began to rise as the people struggled to grasp a concept they did not comprehend. A sigh lifted the slender, yet well muscled shoulders and Cel tried to prepare himself for the burden of explanations that was his alone. But it seemed his mate had other ideas.

Kaoru sensed as well as saw the utter fatigue that weighted down the figure of her mate, and she knew if she did not step in and force him to rest, he would push himself beyond his limits even perhaps to the point of collapsing. She was not going to let that happen.

"_Simpatie,_" Her voice was quiet but firm as she laid a hand upon his shoulder. "It is time for you to rest. You have given much this night and if you do not take a respite, you will not be able to continue."

"I am fine, _Lubit_." The sternness of both his gaze and his voice took her by surprise, but she was undaunted and pushed her cause more firmly.

"I am sure you believe that, my dear, but you are far from it. You are wearing your exhaustion like an ill-fitting overcoat. Now do as I say! You must rest!"

Cel's left eyebrow lifted in a show of surprise and his mouth opened for a brief moment as if he might say something, but then he clamped it shut and nodded in mute acquiescence of his mates firm request. Kaoru smiled with relief and took his hand leading him away. He allowed this contact for a moment and then pulled his hand free so that he could wrap his arm around her shoulders pulling her close to his side.

"I have missed you, _Lubit_." He whispered huskily into her ear as he nuzzled up against the side of her head. "I have missed you so very much."

"Have you?" Kaoru leaned over into his feline-like caress and sighed contentedly. "I'm glad. I have missed you too."

"Has it really only been one day since I first looked into your beautiful face, my precious Kaoru?"

"_Desigur, Simpatie_. Only one day." Her arm looped around his waist as they fell into step with each other. "I have some difficulties believing it myself, yet... it seems I have changed so much and the way I look at the world has changed as well. I am no longer the woman I was when I left the compound yestereve. I have become something else."

"_Desigur_, you are my beloved and soon to be _Nevasta_."

"Your _Lady Wife_?" Kaoru tipped her head and looked up into the shimmering amber crystals that were his eyes. "Is that really how you see me, Kenshin? As your Lady Wife?"

"Do you doubt it, Kaoru Kamiya?" The smile that crossed his handsome face sent the butterflies living in her stomach on a wild flight of sexual awareness. "But I also see you as my _Indragostit... _and I have missed the haven of your body." His nose and mouth burrowed into the satiny softness of the ebony tresses that fell along her temple and cheek and Cel brushed a heated kiss across her smooth skin. "I find myself craving the warmth of you, _Lubit. _I want to feel you wrapped around me while I plunder the deepest reaches of your soul. I hunger for you, Kaoru... I need to be inside of you."

"Y-you're too tired for that, Ken-shin." A shudder raced through her body chattering her teeth as she leaned her head back upon his arm and bared her neck to him. "You really are ready to drop and you know it."

"I will never be too tired to make love to my mate, Kaoru. Never. Now show me to a bed before I embarrass us in front of all these curious eyes."

Kaoru giggled and pulled him toward a hallway that disappeared into the heart of the compound. "All right, _simpatie_, God forbid you do anything else to shock these poor people. I believe we have all had enough theatrics for the time being."

"_Desigur, Lubit,_ that we have." The grateful man breathed into her hair as he allowed himself to be led. "That we have."

Behind them they left a cavern full of curious and somewhat confused people. A few were now wearing knowing grins and smiles on their faces as they watched the couple fade into the dimly lit hallway. Others mingled among themselves wondering what the great mysteries were that Cel had to share with them. He made it all sound so ominous and frightening, but was it going to be that terrible? Of course, there was the General's reaction to the knowledge he received while in blood-bond with The Fang, and if that was anything to judge by, then perhaps they all needed to be prepared for the worst.

Hiko's dark green eyes rested thoughtfully on the golden vampire as he watched him disappear with his only daughter. The vibrating _thrum _of power was still singing through his veins and his spirit creating a sensation of giddiness he had not felt before. He realized it was a little like being drunk on a very fine wine, only more so. And the weight of knowledge he now possessed was extraordinary as well as frightening. Had he only known...

_'Why was none of this in the Holy Archives? Why was none of this information ever written down? We should have known long ago what happened when Milos broke the law of the blood born and created the first 'Made'. We should have known about Lucifers Sin and the impact it could and would have on our people if we succumbed to the temptation of the 'blood'. We should have known... What happened to the records? Were there ever any that spoke of these things? Oh Father, Great Pythagoras, why didn't you leave us records of these words, so that we might have avoided this tragedy of life? None of this was ever written anywhere. Why? Why? We should have been given the opportunity to save ourselves before it came to this.'_

_OooooooooooOooooooooooooOoooooooooooOooooooooooooOooooooooooooooOoooooooo_o

The door closed with an audible 'click' as Cel pulled it shut behind him. Slumping back against the cool metal, he willed his mind to relax and clear itself. So many thoughts and images were racing back and forth. It was difficult at that moment to tell which of them were his own, and which was 'the body collective' of the 'Ancients' the General had tapped into. A dull, aching started to throb rhythmically between his eyes and he lifted a hand to press against the bridge of his nose.

"I told you, didn't I?"

"Told me what, _Lubit?" _Weary golden eyes opened to gaze lovingly into the fine features of his mate who walked up to him and leaned into his waiting embrace. A deep sigh of pleasure left Cel's body as he cradled the woman next to his heart. How had he existed so long without her? He didn't know, but he knew he couldn't live without her now.

"I told you that you were exhausted, and I was right." She nuzzled under his chin and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You can hardly make it this far let alone do anything else."

"Are you challenging my prowess as a 'male', mate?" The severe tone he tried to inflect into his voice was pitiful, and Kaoru giggled at the attempt. "You're supposed to be subservient and respectful, _lubit," _Cel chided as he chuckled and nibbled on her earlobe. "You aren't supposed to laugh."

"Oops! Sorry! I forgot I was supposed to be all cowey and female. Are you going to punish me now?"

"Don't tempt me." He growled crushing her to him and burying his face in her throat. "I have too many other things on my mind that I want to do to you to be worried about punishing you as well."

A low moan of hunger crawled out of Kaoru's vitals and she pressed her body as close to her mates unyielding form as she could. Her hands slid up his back and curled over his shoulder as she bent her head back giving him full access to her flesh and an answering shudder quaked through him.

"Mine," he breathed heavily as the fangs in his mouth lengthened slightly and grew needle sharp. "You are mine, Kaoru, mind and no others."

"_Dessigurr,"_ her voice slurred and grew raspy as the heat of desire rose in her blood and her own fangs became daggers of heat and desire seeking a physical release. A low, moaning cry of sexual starvation echoed through the arousal charged atmosphere, and the next thing she knew, Kaoru was staring into a pair of eyes burning liquid gold. _"Simpatieee..."_

The softness of the bed came up to meet her back, and then he was covering her with his body pushing her down into the heaped up blankets. Moments that were somehow seconds flashed by as he removed both of their clothes. Small satisfied cries swept through the room as flesh met flesh and hands locked together. Tongues danced through fangs and mouths kissed, molded, and reacquainted themselves with their beloved. The dance was beginning as the partners took their places.

"Ken-shin, I-I need you."

"What do you need, _indragostit? _Tell me and I will give it to you."

"I... I need you... here."She surged up against him making him groan deep within himself. "I need you... please." She pulled him down onto her and arched her back bringing her closer to his chest. "Please, Kenshin...."

He buried his face against her neck and nuzzled her. "You are my light, _sweet lubit,_always. Always, Kaoru. Now and forever." And then, with his heart pounding and his breath hot upon her flesh, Cel-Kenshin joined them in the lovers embrace. She cried out his name and fisted her hands in the glorious mane of his flaming, red hair.

For several moments, Cel-Kenshin savored the remarkable sensation of once more being connected to his beloved. It was glorious, it was heaven, it was the key to his sanity. Languidly he took one breasts into his mouth. Kaoru shivered with the contact of his lips and then his teeth. He brought the faint scrape of his fangs to bear and felt her quake violently beneath him. His mind clouded as a wave of desire washed through the core of him, and in the splintering of an instant, he sank those fangs deep into her tender flesh. The taste of her blood invaded his senses like a heavy drug, and he pulled her up into him. Once more the dance of love existed between them.

"Ken-shin!" The sobbing cry of her mates name tore the room as Kaoru's voice box contorted around the sharp sound of pleasure-pain. The world was fading and spinning for her, and she was on a roller coaster of sexual sensation that was frying her brain. Not to mention he was doing the blood-bond thing again, only this time he was making contact through her breast and not her throat. It was a horrible, blasphemous thought, but as far as her limited intelligence was concerned at that moment, the whole world could blow up and she wouldn't care. At least she would die happy.

Kaoru could sense him drifting closer to her mind, and despite the giddy, glowing sensation she was getting off the sex, she could almost see him. That beautiful, golden ethereal creature she remembered from the first bonding. He was close, but not quite, and then the feeling was gone.

"Oh, _Lubit," _Cel-Kenshin murmured as he pulled his fangs free from the soft skin and soothed it stopping the blood flow. "How much I love you, sweet _lubit. _More than you will ever know." And then he pressed his damp forehead against her chest, slipped his hands beneath her, and took them to the heights of glory.

Breathing heavily, he rolled to his side bringing her with him. "Did I hurt you, Kaoru?" Soft lips tenderly brushed her forehead.

"_Nu, _Kenshin, I am fine." She nuzzled into his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his neck.

"Did I– did I please you?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Her voice was filled with mischief, but he didn't miss the chiding tone that told him he was being foolish and to stop it. "Of course you pleased me. You almost pleased me into everlasting oblivion, Mighty Fang."

Kenshin-Cel laughed lightly and snuggled his mate closer. "That's nice to know," He quipped as he nipped her shoulder. "I would be very displeased if I couldn't please you, you know."

"Well, you don't have anything to worry about, so stop it. If you're this good when you're half dead...." They both burst into laughter at her unspoken innuendo. "'Nuff said?"

"Yes,_ lubit, _enough said. Except one thing,"

"What is that?"

"I love you, Kaoru."

"I love you, too, Kenshin... ummm, by the way, when you're like this, do I call you Kenshin, or Cel, or 'Great One', or 'Lord Fang', or what? I'm sorta confused about that."

Cel laughed and brushed his lips across hers. "_Lubit, _you may call me whatever you wish, after all, you are 'The Source', and my mate. That makes you very important, as well as gives you liberties others do not share. So, you choose what you want to call me."

"I met you as 'Kenshin', and I like the name. I want to keep it that way, does that work for you, oh Great One?"

"God, I almost forgot what a sass you are," he rubbed his cheek along her nose and forehead. "_Desigur, lubit_, it works for me. Now, can we take a nap, or something close to it. I am beat."

"Um-hum. We can. Although, I am not as tired as you. How long do you want to sleep? Do you want me to wake you up before sunrise so you can talk to Papa and Aoshi, or do you want to sleep all night and talk tomorrow night?"

"_Nu_, there are things that need to be done tonight. Don't let me sleep past nine-thirty."

"Alright, _simpatie, _I promise I will wake you up."

"Sleep with me for a little while?"

"_Desigur, simpatie_. I wouldn't miss that for anything." And with a smile Kaoru curled up in her lover's arms and closed her eyes. It had been a frightening day, a terrible day, a day that could have meant the end of her people and all that they knew. But, instead, there was hope now. Hope for the future and a new way to live. It would be a long and difficult path to walk, but did not the way to true enlightenment always require change, and was not change the most difficult lesson of all? Change and Forgiveness. They walked hand in hand for the Clans. The world was going to get a second chance.

The Way of The Fang

Part V: Education of The Slayers

Cel

Kaoru Kamiya

Hiko Seijuro

Aoshi Shinomori

Enishii Yukishiro

Misao Makimachi

Okita Soushi

Angel Targon

The first order of business was to get all of the Slayers on the same page as Cel and the General, and that was up to Aoshi and Kaoru. Calling an 'all-points' meeting seemed to be the best way, so word was sent to each of the groups throughout the city and in Manhattan. Everyone was ordered to come into the compound for the emergency meeting that night by midnight, no exceptions. The first to arrive were Misao and the China Town chapter, then came Okita and his 'street rats', Katsu and the 'flying circus', and last to pull their panting ass's through the compound doors were Enishii and his 'high class up-towners'.

The first thing out of Kaoru's mouth when she spotted Misao and Okita was the root of her worries and guilt at that moment. "Have any of you or your teams seen signs of Stephan and the others?"

"What 'others' are you talking about, Kaoru?" Misao sensed her long-time friend's anxiety and became immediately concerned. "What happened?"

"You mean you don't know?" Confused silver-blue eyes searched the smaller woman's face in fear. "Didn't you hear? They went looking for me last night when I didn't come back from my patrol. No one here has heard from them and we don't even know if they are alive or not."

"Shit, no, I hadn't heard." Misao's sharp, iridescent blue-green eyes became cloudy as she searched her mind for any recollection of Stephan's name. "Who else went with him?"

"Jules, Cody, and Angel..." Kaoru's voice trailed off as her brain flashed images of each trusted face across her minds eye. "Angel was barely out of slayer training. She wasn't ready to go out into the danger zone yet. I feel so... responsible."

"Well, you should."

Kaoru's head snapped to the side and she fiercely met the shiny mirrored surface of Enishii's spectacles as they teetered on the bridge of his nose. "I do feel responsible, Nishii." She spat angrily and blinked to keep the bitter sting of her tears at bay. "It's my fault they went out looking for me, and it will be my fault if anything happens to them."

"I'm glad you feel that way, Miss High-and-Mighty Slayer Princess, because it's thanks to my sister that those four younglings are still alive to tell you what they think of you."

"They are alive?" The incredible joy of hearing that the four slayers were alive totally over shadowed the nasty insult and innuendo that laced the arrogant upper class slayers words. "Where? Where are they? I must see them for myself, Nishii. Where are they?"

"Of course, you want to see them, Slayer, but what makes you think they want to see you?"

"Perhaps, Lieutenant Yukishiro, that is a question best posed to the young slayers themselves, _desigur_?" The smooth, satiny voice drifted between the two slayers like a seductive mist effectively putting an end to the conversation. However, Enishii was not quite ready to end his diatribe and he whirled, with fangs bared, intent upon giving the unwanted intruder a scathing dress-down that only he was capable of.

"Perhaps, and perhaps not, my good friend, but the first order of business, I believe, is an answer to the question... Just who the hell are YOU?" As the viciously spoken words left the silver-haired vampire's mouth, he found himself choking on what could only be his own tongue. "By the Mother's eyes," he rasped, "who are you?"

Cel smiled, showing off his magnificent, but retracted fangs. The flaming amber of his eyes was also subdued but the sparkle of life was as brilliant as ever, and the wild mane of his blood red hair hung smooth and soft as silk down his back. "Who do you think I am, Enishii Yukishiro?"

"I..." The tingle of power sifted through the air and brushed against his face on its way to his soul. "I–I saw you," he whispered in a small childlike voice as his hand lifted to the center of his chest. "I saw you tonight... in a nightmare I had."

"_Desigur_, my _tovaras_. You have all seen me, but do you know who I am?"

"I–_desigur_. I know. I knew the moment your face appeared before me in mt mind, but... I was not expecting– I did not think– I..."

"You did not expect me to be _here? _Is that what you are having such difficulties saying, Enishii Yukishiro?" The stunned slayer nodded and another patient smile curved through Cel's lips. "I understand. It is all very confusion– to no one more than myself, so perhaps if we try to work the difficulties out together, the confusion will resolve itself, _desigur_? Is this not a better plan of action than snarling and snapping at each others throats?"

"I–I..." Again Enishii nodded as he found himself without the words to speak to such a perfect logic. Nor did he have any idea what to say to the being before him who had been, up until this moment, nothing more than a myth.

"Good, I am glad we agree. Now, if you would be so kind, Lieutenant Yukishiro, I would very much like to meet the four slayers who volunteered to search for my mate when she did not return as scheduled. I wish to thank them for their selflessness as well as their courage."

"You–your _mate?"_ Enishii nearly fainted as the impact of Cel's words struck him full in the chest. Kaoru, the slayer's nightmare, was mate to The Almighty Fang? A heavy fog of impending unconsciousness started to swim around the gapping slayers head as visions of that same head rolling in a bloody mass across the compound floor began to wash across his mind. Had he just been arguing and insulting The Fang's Beloved Mate? Did his mind read true on that fact which named the arrogant, disrespectful, mean-spirited slayer 'The Source'? _'I'm a dead man.'_

"K-kaoru? You're the–'The Source'?" The confusion of Enishii's mind was perfectly reflected in Misao's glassy gaze. "What the hell is going on?" She cried as she approached her friend and the two men. "Is this guy saying he's 'Cel, The Fang' and you're his–his mate? You mean all of that hooch I saw in my dreams wasn't the tequila I had before I went to bed?!"

"Misao," Kaoru grabbed the babbling brunette by the arm and pulled her close. "Get a grip, girl-friend," she hissed. "_Desigur_, this is 'Cel', and _desigur_, he is my mate. Now calm down before you burst something important."

"_Calm down_?!" Misao screeched. "How can I calm down when the whole world has changed in one day?"

"_Desigur_, Misao Machimaki," Cel moved to the distraught woman-girl's side and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "The world has changed for all of us this day, but even more so for me. I now have the responsibility of caring for and trying to protect billions of lives, both vampire and human. Yours is among them. Everyone in this compound is among them." He gave her a reassuring squeeze and then stepped away so he could consider all of the astonished faces that were regarding him.

"We are standing on the threshold of a new world, my friends, a new time has opened up before us and with it come's the knowledge that we must band together with the allies The One God has given us. This is something we must do if we wish to survive."

"What do you mean, if we wish to survive?" Katsu came to the front his green eyes snapping with anxiety. "We already know how to survive. Our ancestors did it for thousands of years."

"Katsu is right. Why do you say it is a matter of survival?" Okita Soushi, the leader of the 'street rats' stepped forward and forced himself to meet the amber gaze of Cel despite the fear that thundered in his chest. "We have been doing a fine job of surviving for over 600 years. What is so different now that you expect us to form alliances with the humans? That _is _what you are expecting, isn't it?"

"_Desigur_, Okita Soushi, Katsu Tsunan, and I concur that you all have been surviving very well for the last 600 years without the humans, but the day of The Holy War is upon us and Gustov Uriel will not stay hidden in the shadows much longer."

"What do you mean, he will not stay hidden much longer?" Okita looked around at the other confused faces and then, spreading his hands before him in a gesture of entreaty, he spoke. "The Black Diamond has always stayed hidden from sight. He sends his henchmen to do his dirty work. No one ever sees him around the action, so what you say makes no sense unless you think he is planning something."

"Is he planning something, My Lord?" Katsu suddenly looked more worried than he had a moment before.

"Absolutely." The affirmation was made with such solid simplicity everyone in the room caught their breath. "He is already on the move and we must be certain we are prepared for anything, because when he strikes, it will with the snapping swiftness of a coiled viper."

"How do you know he is on the move, My Lord?" Hiko moved silently to take his place on Cel's right side. "What makes you think this? Have you _seen something?"_

"_Nu_, Hiko Seijuro, I have not seen anything, but Uriel is no fool. He knows I have awakened, and he knows the meaning and significance of that. He will not wait long to start positioning his people in order to effect a crushing blow." A long, taloned finger thoughtfully tapped against Cel's lower lip. "He will think to strike at us quickly and at the heart of the clans."

"You mean, he will strike here, in New York."

"I believe so."

"It would be the logical choice, but what are his reasons? Why does he do it, My Lord?"

"Because, Hiko Seijuro, every member of the Corban bloodline exist here. If he can destroy us, he can destroy all links to The All Father and The One God. The Oath with the Mother will be forever broken and the Pure Bloods will vanquish in Hell."

"All will be lost."

"_Desigur_. There will be no hope in saving the Earth or the humans."

"The Alliance with the humans must be made, My Lord, but how will we approach them? To them we are nothing more than horror movie icons and villains. We are storybook myths. What can we do?"

"Teach them," The voice was small, almost timid, but it made its way into the two mens conversation on the note of sheer will. "We must teach them, Great One. There are those among the humans who know who we are and accept it. We have friends, some of us, and I know they would be willing to help. All we have to do is ask and explain."

"You are right, youngling." Cel grinned and allowed soft eyes to caress the young girls face. She looked like a forest nymph or an elf she was so ethereal. Her hair was white-blonde with vibrant gold streaks just barely showing through, and her eyes shown an astonishing lime green as they blinked and winked like two lanterns in her sharp featured face. "What is your name, girl?" He asked as he lightly placed a hand on her slim shoulder.

"Angel," she whispered. "My name is Angel."

"Angel," Glowing golden eyes shown with pride and affection as Cel gazed upon her lovely face. "You are one of those sent to find my Kaoru, aren't you?"

"_Desigur_, Great One. I went, but the sun rose before we were successful."

"That is alright, youngling. You would not have found her regardless of your efforts, she was with me all that night." His hand gently squeezed her shoulder. "But I thank you for what you tried to do. I will remember your courage and selflessness always, and that of your comrades."

"You are welcome, Great One." A brilliant smile crossed the innocent face of the young slayer, and her lime-green eyes shone with a joyful light. "I pray I may be useful to you again, and I put my skills and my life in your service, Almighty Fang. I am yours to command."

"I am grateful, Angel Targon, and it is I who is in your debt." He leaned down and placed the softest of kisses upon her smooth cheek, and then turned to face the gathering of slayers. "It is time for us to pull together as a single striking force. We must be united as one body, one mind, and one purpose. It is I who is sent to lead you into the dark days ahead, but it is the power of all our combined strengths that will see us through to the end. I am only one man. Despite my power and the knowledge of the Ancient Ones I cannot do this alone, and you cannot do this without me. We must do it together. Is there anyone here who does not agree? If so, please step forth that we might speak of your concerns."

The crowd of vampires tuned and began looking from one to the other, each face filled with questioning and indecision of some degree. Of course there were questions, there were always questions, but who would be the first to step forward. To everyone's surprise it was not a slayer that moved beyond the edge of the circle, but a clan member. And the clan member it was created a tense stir among the others.

"It is not that I do not agree, My Lord, but I have concerns about the records."

"The records? Of what records and what concerns do you speak, Soujiro Kamiya? You are The Keeper of The Holy Archive, you would know more about the records that anyone. Why do you ask me?" Cel moved to stand in front of the dark-haired man who looked more boy than adult and gazed with concern into his blue-gray eyes. "What troubles you?"

"They appear to be incomplete, My Lord."

"Incomplete? In what way?"

"There is no mention in them of a vampire named Milos, or of the Great Sin. Neither is there any reference to _the fall of Milos and the creation of the first Made._ There is nothing written anywhere about the Oath made with The Mother." A graceful hand raked its way through thick, dark brown hair as a perplexed look fixed itself upon Soujiro's face. "Father spoke to me of it while you were resting, and I searched the records for any mention of these things, and there is not one. Not in even the oldest of the scrolls. I do not understand, if this is such a significant part of our history, and it was what inevitably led us to this point in time, why were we never warned, or reminded? Why were we never told?"

"I wish I knew the answers to those questions, my brother, but I don't. All I know is what has been born within me to know. Our people teeter on the edge of the abyss of everlasting damnation because of Milos' sin, and because of that, we must destroy that which we have spawned through the unclean perversion of _the way of the fang._"

"The way of the fang? I have never heard this before?" Troubled eyes searched Cel's face and then searched the faces of those around them finding that they, too, were filled with worry and confusion. "What is this thing? There is no mention of it either. I do not understand why the records are so incomplete. It should not be this way."

"_Nu, _my brother, it should not be this way, but it is, and if it is there must be a cause for it. The All Father would not have kept such vital information from his children unless there was a reason for it." Cel's talon-tipped hand reached out and gently grasped Soujiro by the shoulder. "What we must not do, is dwell upon what we do not understand and focus upon the tasks ahead. There is much to be done."

"But, My Lord, are we supposed to stumble around in the dark without the information we need? How can we fight the Made if we do not know what our true goals are? Are we striving to be forgiven for Milos' sins, or are we trying to win a war before all of our people are annihilated and the humans are turned into slaves? Why are we doing this? Is it Revolution or Genocyde? And why are we being held responsible for a sin committed by a man none of us have ever or could ever have known? The lunacy and paradox of the situation is almost unfathomable."

A serious, frightening look passed over Cel's face as he clasped his hands behind his back and turned away from the distraught record keeper. His mind was in turmoil as he searched for the words to enlighten the troubled man as well as explain to everyone the reasons that dictated the cause for the war. Unbidden, his golden gaze was drawn to the gem hard stare of the Leader, Hiko Seijuro. He understood because he spoke to The All Father and heard it from Pythagoras' lips, but how would he, Cel, convey that horrible truth to these people? How could he make them understand that the cause for forgiveness and the reason for the war were one in the same? That the redemption of their people depended upon their ability to concur that which they had released into a world of innocent blood?

A low growl echoed in his chest and Cel's eyes darkened to a molten amber. Anger burned in his chest as he snapped his fangs. Rounding furiously on the shocked group of vampires, he hissed in low, malevolent voice. "The Oath to The Mother must be restored and the breech to The One God crossed. We must remember that which has been forgotten and cleave unto the truth for it is our Holy Gospel of Sacred Trust."

"Wh–what is the truth we must remember, Great Fang?" Aoshi stepped forward to catch Soujiro as the man stumbled back from the wave of wrath that passed through him. "What have we forgotten?"

"It will not be an easy truth for you to hear, as your leader discovered, but hear it you must for it is the greatest truth of all. It is the secret of the past that has been kept from the records, it is the bitter gall of the old ones and it will taste more bitter than garlic. It will be the same for all of you... for every pure blood. It is the mystery of the pure blood lineage."

"Lineage? I don't understand, My Lord?" Aoshi's icy blue eyes narrowed as he stepped in front of Soujiro and faced the golden vampire more fully. "Where did we come from if not The All Father? We all descend from Pythagorus' progeny in one way or another... don't we?"

"_Desigur_, my _tovarus_, but not in the way you think."

"Then... how?"

"Each and every clan within the pure blood history has its origins in the same genetic spawning pool. All but the family Corban. They alone are direct descendants of the All Father and his Bride, Lilith. Only they are the progeny of the mating."

"I do not understand." Aoshi shook his head letting his gaze drift over the rest of the confused faces surrounding them. Among them he saw friends, half-relatives, near strangers and his trusted slayers. Pure bloods one and all... or were they something else? "Where did the rest of us spawn, My Lord, if not the All Father's loins?"

"From a human turned Pure Blood."

Aoshi's face turned a sickly gray as he turned back to face the mighty golden vampire. His mind was screaming in rejection at what he heard from those lips, but as he met the steady, truthful gaze, his heart and soul knew the words held no falsehoods. Somewhere in his long forgotten bloodline, there was a human who had been the first. The first to begin the clan that spawned his blood... and him.

"By the Mother... why were we never told?"

"Unless I am mistaken," Cel spoke in a cold, authoritative voice that broke no objections. "We lost the rights to knowing when Milos broke the Oath. Perhaps the records were burned, or spirited away, I cannot tell you, but I do know that so great was the sin, and so great has been the blaspheme that has followed, we are damned unless we cleanse the pathway back to The Mother."

"But why are we being held responsible for Milo's sin? Most of us have never made a Made?"

"How many of you are responsible for the death of a human?" Cel's eyes coldly slide across the sea of faces and on them he saw confusion. "How many of you have killed a human, whether it was for food, pleasure, or so-called self defense? How many?" No one spoke. "If there is one among you who does not wear the stain of human blood upon their hands, let he or she step forth." No one came. "That is OUR sin. The shedding of innocent blood. We are the stronger species, we are superior. There should never be a reason for us to kill these weaker cousins of ours. Not any reason is good enough unless we are, indeed, fighting for our lives, but then, how foolish does that sound?" The smell of shame filled the room and not one member of the group could meet his eyes.

"Bear your shame well, my brothers and sisters, for we are all guilty. Even I am guilty of this crime. My hands are stained with innocent blood and I must redeem my soul. WE must all redeem our souls if we are to get back what was lost."

"What was lost, Lord Cel?" Soujiro lifted a tear streaked face and regarded the golden vampire with a deep respect. "What must be found?"

"Our Honor, my brother, and the trust of The Mother. The Oath must be restored and we must regain our place as Protectors of The Earth by guarding The Gates of Hell. That was our purpose for existence from the very beginning."

"What are we?" Aoshi placed his hand on Cel's forearm as shock continued to hammer his system.

"The Angels of Darkness, _tovarus, _we are the angels of darkness."

TBC

Review Response:

FanFiction: As always, you guys got the majorly censored version of this chapter. Don't want to ban me for publishing something that is outside of acceptable parameters. The full version is available on (if I ever get on to publish it, Or on under the penname, Mangetsu.)

Rain Angst: Hello again, you sweet thing. You're starting to follow me all over the place. :) I like that. God Bless, Sweetheart. Much love. Tsuki

Ixchen:Was it worth the wait????

Gaby (hyatt: I love this fic too. I just wish it didn't take so much out of me to write it. Hope you enjoyed.

Paisita: I will always remember you in my review responses. You are one of my favorite fans. You are one of the very few who call my stories beautiful. I will never forget that, you sweet, dear, girl. Much love, always. Tsuki

BelleDayNight: Funny thing! I'm online with you right now, and you're reading our update for Saitou's Ranch. Hehehehehe. How cool is that? And you just said the same thing... "Man, you go way into detail." I love doing all the research. You were online with me the other day when I was doing research for Black Hawke. Geez, we sure are online together a lot. People are going to start to talk, you know. LOLOLOL Love you, girly. Tsuki

Aqua-chan: Thank you, dear. A big success? Hmmmmm... a fair success. If it were a big success I'd have 30 reviews like 'Bad Kid', but I'm very happy with the reviews I have. They are from some of my favorite people. I hope you liked this chapter too.

Alexa Night: Devious... I just love that word, especially when it is used to describe me. Heheheh.. BTW, Jade, dear, if you want to read the heated version and AFF is still down, go over to and you will find it in all it's lemon glory under the name _Mangetsu._ Glad you're enjoying the Black Hawke. That was actually a story I never intended to post. BelleDayNight and Sephiress talked me into it. Can I say I'm glad you're addicted to my writing without sounded conceited????

Sephiress: Dana, love... I have no problems with what time you review. I just love to see you when and where ever I can. Thanks for what you said about Lilith and Pythag. I really took a gamble with that one. Glad you think it works.

To everyone whose reading and not reviewing. I need some input on this story. I really do. I value all opinions. They help me become better at what I do. Kanzen ne Tsuki


	16. The Estate

Review Response at end of Chapter.

Sexual content edited for R rating. Full unedited Lemon available on or

Chapter Sixteen

The Estate

Place: Philadelphia Airport

Time: Thursday Morning, 01:32 a.m.

April, 2004

Just over two days after Cel entered the Ellis Island Compound

Hajime Saitou

Arturo Patronii

Chou

Shiiba

The small jet landed smoothly on the runway and taxied toward the waiting limousine that was parked beside a stretch of red carpet. The running lights winked and twinkled in the darkness showing the planes progress, and as it approached, a tall sinewy man extracted himself from the automobile and stood waiting. Nervously he adjusted his coat and hat in an attempt to be certain his appearance was flawless. It had been many years since he had served the Master personally and he did not want to be caught looking less than was expected.

He enjoyed his head where it was.

Gulping audibly, he wiped the perspiration from his forehead on the back of his white driving gloves and prayed that the Master would simply get into the car and order him to drive. He had no desire to exchange words with the stone-faced vampire, but knew if he was spoken to he would have to answer. He just hoped he wouldn't sound like an idiot.

As the plane stopped, a loud 'clanking' noise could be heard from inside, and soon the door opened and the stairway extended. Pale light oozed from the interior and shadows of movement could be easily discerned as the passengers gathered their belongings. The first to exit was a young man of perhaps twenty years of age. His pale blonde hair caught the gleam off the running lights and turned a brilliant incandescent red as he walked to the rear of the plane toward the cargo hold. In a few short moments he retrieved the necessary luggage and brought it over to the limo.

"You got keys, Man?" He asked the tall chauffeur as he walked past him and stopped next to the trunk. "I don't really want to haul this shit around any farther than I have to."

"Of course, one moment please." The chauffeur extracted the keys from his hip pocket and moved to open the back of the car. "Let me assist you with those, sir."

"Sure, thanks." The youth smiled and shoved a garment bag into the other man's waiting hands. "Just be sure you don't put this anywhere it's gonna get wrinkled. The Master hates having his coats and pants bunched up. But then, you probably already know that, huh?"

"Yes, I already know that."

"Good, then I shouldn't have to tell you anything." Another smile played across the almost effeminate features and the sea green eyes twinkled. "I'm Shiiba, by the way. Who are you?"

"My name is Chou." The chauffeur grabbed another suitcase and laid it down along the base of the trunk. "I have been with the Master many years and know his ways well."

"Ah, I see. Well, I've only been with him for a few months, but I'm learning awfully fast."

"Then you may keep your head... if you're lucky." An evil smirk curled the chauffeur's lips as he trained a piercing eye on the younger man. "But you won't last long if you keep up with that spunky attitude. The Master doesn't like a smart ass."

"I already know that." Shiiba tossed the last bag into the trunk and waited while Chou shut the lid. "I don't act like this around him. I'm not that stupid."

"Good thing, but just one piece of advice from someone who knows the Master well."

"What's that?"

"Lose the attitude everywhere. It's bound to get back to him and he doesn't like that kind of thing either. He expects you to be smooth, professional, and deliberate. There is no easy-way to work for him. You either abide his rules and lifestyle or you die."

"Well yeah, I know that too, but can't we loosen up a little when he's not around?"

"Tell me, Shiiba, when is the Master ever _not _around?" Chou dusted off his hands and straightened his coat again. "I like my head where it is, and I intend to keep it that way. If you wish to behave stupidly, do it with someone else, somewhere else. Arturo will not be able to protect you forever, and the excuse of your youth and innocence will save you for only so long."

"I–ah..." Sweat suddenly beaded up on Shiiba's forehead and he had the strangest feeling that his guts were being turned into jell-o. The tall chauffeur just smiled at his new level of discomfort and returned to his position next to the car door offering no more words of explanation or advice. "I'll try to remember that."

"See that you do."

"Chou! How are you, my friend?" Saitou's deep, rumbling voice floated across the pavement as he stepped onto the stairway and eyed the tall driver. "It has been too many years, my old companion. It is good to see you."

"It is good to see you as well, Lord Saitou." Chou felt sweat trickling down his spine but he forced a polite smile onto his pale face as the great vampire approached him. _'God help me,' _he prayed as the cold hands descended onto his shoulders and he was engulfed in a brief but tight embrace. "I trust your flight went well, my Lord?"

"Yes, very little turbulence this route." Saitou narrowed his eyes and closely examined the man in front of him. "Did you cut your hair, Chou, or did you somehow manage to stuff it all entirely under that ridiculous hat?

"I–ah, I cut it, my Lord. It was beginning to get in the way." Chou blushed, feeling the heat of his embarrassment burning around the collar of his shirt. "There is hot tea brewing inside, sir," he said turning slightly and opening the door. "I thought you might like a bit after the trip."

"Ah, thank-you, Chou. I trust there is a little whiskey tucked away inside as well?"

"Of course, my Lord. Can I offer you anything else?" _'Please just get inside and let us be done with this.'_

Saitou patted the tall man on the back and smiled blandly. "No, not just now, Chou. Let's just make time and get to the estate before the sun rises. How long is it to the house?"

"Two hours, my Lord. We should reach the estate long before the sun shows its face." Chou cleared his throat and tried to find a polite, blank look to paste on his face as he bowed respectfully to the man beside him.

"Very good, Chou. Then let us be on our way. Arturo?"

"Yes, my Lord?" The slender Italian was standing beside his Master in an instant. "What do you wish of me?"

"Make sure that all of our luggage is accounted for and then follow us in the other car. I want to be certain no one has followed us here. Is that clear?"

"Yes, my Lord. I will make certain we are alone."

"See that you do, and, Arturo?" Saitou turned and looked directly into the dark eyes watching him. "Keep Shiiba close to you. He's still a liability at this point and I don't quite trust him yet. I want you to watch every move he makes. Understood?"

"Yes, my Lord, although you surely must know he is harmless?"

"Perhaps, Arturo, but one cannot be too careful in these times that are facing us now. Cel could have spies all around us at this point so everyone is suspect until their loyalty is proven to me." Icy amber eyes shifted to rest upon the pale faced blonde standing a few feet away chatting with some of the other men. "And he is not proven."

"Yes, my Lord. As always, you are right. I will continue to keep Shiiba close to my side until we know if he is worthy of your trust."

"See that you do. I will tolerate no mistakes from this moment forward, Arturo. We are in enemy territory and we must be prepared at all times for anything that might happen. A weak link in our chain of strength could mean disaster for us. I know you are well aware of that."

"I am." Arturo felt the familiar icy fingers of his mental awareness slithering up his spine as the open-ended threat hung heavy in the air about him. "There will be no mistakes. If there are, I will deal with them swiftly."

"I trust that you will." With a smooth, inhuman grace, Saitou folded himself up into the spacious backseat of the black limousine stretching his long legs out with a sigh of satisfaction. "I will see you at the estate then."

"Of course." Bowing at the waist, Arturo waited until Chou closed the door before rising to his full height once more. In that moment, dark brown eyes met the steady gaze of cornflower blue and the two old friends exchanged a silent message of comradery. It was many years since they had worked together but the common past they shared bound them tightly together.

"Will he want a woman?" The question was spoken softly but hastily over the chauffeurs shoulder as he turned to take his seat behind the wheel.

"Yes, do you have one in mind?"

"Yes, it is someone he already knows."

"Who?"

"Her."

The single word dropped into the night air and Arturo turned to lock gazes with the blue-eyed man for a moment. Nodding his head, the Italian gave his assent to the choice and then turned and walked back toward the plane.

"God speed, Arturo."

"And you, Chou."

OooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooOoooooooooooo

Glossary: Simpatielove, IndragostitLover, LubitBeloved, NevastaLady Wife, StepanKing

Place: Ormond Estate, outer Philadelphia

Time: 3:45 a.m.

Hajime Saitou

Arturo Patronii

Chou

Shiiba

Tokio Takagi

It had been over 150 years since she laid her eyes on him, but that fact did nothing to alter her level of desire or the rise of anticipation filling her. He was her soul mate; at least that is how she always felt about him. Just the thought of having him touch her again was almost more than she could bear, and the nervous staccato click of her heels on the floor tile was proof of her state of emotional fervour. The wine glass in her hand trembled and a few drops of the expensive red liquid spilled over her lips and dropped onto her scantily covered breasts.

The plain black dress she wore accentuated every curve she owned, and the snug, low-cut bodice pushed her plump breasts upward to the point of spilling free. Her long, dark chestnut hair was left loose and it hung to her shapely hips in a swathe of liquid silk. Luminescent brown eyes caught and reflected the moonlight like twin mirrors as she glanced for the umpteenth time out the large picture window facing the drive.

"Where the hell are you, Hajime." The voice was low and raspy with sexual need and her blood red lips pursed thoughtfully as she pressed her forehead against the cool glass. "You would make me wait, wouldn't you?" A sigh of frustration echoed through the spacious room and she moved away from the window, swallowing the last of her wine in one gulp. "I hate waiting," she murmured tossing her hair over a creamy shoulder. "And it's been so long... too long."

"Forgive me, beloved, but I didn't know you were waiting. Had I, I might have made Chou drive faster."

Whirling around with a start, the woman grabbed her throat in surprise dropping the wine glass, her mouth agape showing the delicate points of her fangs where they appeared just below the curve of her upper lip. Her eyes flashed with apprehension and then recognition as she absorbed the sight of the tall, slender man standing negligently in the doorframe. He was smiling in that sardonic way of his and she felt the pooling of her desire heat up in the pit of her stomach.

"Hajime." A luscious smile of pure hunger curved her full lips and a low chuckle slid from her swanlike throat. "It's been a long time, my _Stapan. _Did you miss me?"

Saitou threw his head back and laughed. She was the only woman he knew who would be that audacious, but it only made her more beautiful and desirable. "Point in fact, _Indragostit_, I believe I have." His amber eyes glittered with appreciation as he took in her sensual appearance. "You are as lovely as ever, Tokio. How have you been?"

"Lonely." She wandered over to him and rubbed her hand up his chest as she parted the sides of his trench. "I missed you."

"Have you?" Gazing down at her brilliant eyes filled him with the sudden urge to embrace her, and with a low, muffled growl, he gave in to the need, filling his arms with her slender curves. "Just how much have you missed me, _Indragostit?_" He asked as he buried his face in her hair.

"Want me to show you?" Her nose nuzzled wantonly beneath his chin as she pressed herself into his hard frame. "It is two hours until sunrise so there is time."

"Aye, there is time." His head swooped down and he seized her lips with his smothering her in a deep heated kiss that spoke volumes to her. One hand rose to tangle itself in the mass of satiny curls at her nape as he opened her mouth and slipped his tongue inside. He felt the rough silk of her tongue meet him as he entered and they began a slow, sensuous mating of taste and sensation.

Tokio moaned low in her throat as she flattened herself against his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders. He was tall, and even in her heels she had to stretch to reach all the way. The hair at his nape was soft to her touch and she wound it about her fingers as her hand snaked up to cup the back of his head. It was always like this between them and it was obvious from the answering moan rumbling in his chest that he had missed her just as much as she had him.

"_Simpatie,_" He whispered heavily against her moist lips his desire expanding to molten proportions. "I have missed you, dear God, so much." The whimpering sound of her response to his heated admission filled Saitou with the need to possess her as fully as possible, and his mouth moved to trail a pathway of fire down the side of her throat. She tasted like cream and sugar and the scent of her consumed his senses making him rough as he pulled her lower body against him. "I need this," he groaned burying his face in the curve of her neck and inhaling the aroma of her. "I need you."

"Take me then," she rasped against his cheek letting her lips flutter across the smooth skin. "I'm here, Hajime... I'm always here."

"Why, Tokio? Why do you wait for me? Why don't you move on and find a mate who will stay by your side all of the time? Why do you stay with me?"

"Because I love you, _Stepan. _You are my mate... there is no one else. Only you, my beautiful man. Only you..." She tenderly brushed the four loose strands of his iron gray hair off his forehead smiling when they stubbornly fell back despite her attempt.

"I have been gone from you for too long, _lubit. _Much too long." Scooping her up in his arms, Saitou strode quickly through the main hall and headed for the stairs. "Do you know where my room is?"

"Yes, I've already been inside getting things ready for you to come." She nuzzled into his flesh again and let her tongue lick the sensitive spot behind his ear. "I hope you approve."

"As long as there is a bed, _simpatie, _I will be satisfied."

"There is one of those." Giggling like a young girl, Tokio tossed her head back and looked longingly up into the taut lines of his face. "I trust you still know your way around one of them?"

A deep chuckle escaped him and he looked down at her. "Aye, little tease, I know my way, but will you be able to keep up?" The seductive challenge spilled out of his mouth as his amber gaze devoured her.

"With you?" Her rich laughter filled the hallway as Saitou reached the top of the stairs. "I think it is you who will have trouble keeping up with me."

"Not hardly," he growled and followed her pointing finger to a large oak door. "I have not slowed down since last we shared one another, _simpatie, _and I mean to show you that for the next two hours–minimum."

"Minimum?" Her eyes grew wide with anticipation.

"Indeed. Now open the door." He smiled wickedly as she reached out and pushed the big door open revealing a king-sized bed covered with black satin sheets. A decanter of his favorite scotch whiskey sat on a small table with two glasses and a container of ice. Next to it was a bottle of cola waiting to be mixed with the strong alcohol. A bowl of fresh strawberries and another of whipped cream also graced the table, and Saitou nodded in appreciation as he kicked the door closed. "It would seem you have thought of everything, _simpatie._"

"Then you approve?" She sounded slightly worried and he looked into her face with a light gleaming in his eyes. Tokio caught her breath at the amount of heat that was encased in that simple glance, and she felt a violent twinge of desire surge through her making her tremble in his arms. "I guess you do."

"Aye, I do." He lowered her onto the bed and proceeded to strip out of his trench and shirt, and then leaning over her, he pressed her body down into the softness of the mattress. "You are beautiful, Tokio." His mouth hovered above hers as he drank in the sight of her passion filled eyes, and Saitou knew he was lost to her–again.

"So are you." She whispered back, letting her hands caress his lean face. "And this is why I will always wait for you, _indragostit, _because I could never be like this with another. Only you have been able to reach the deepest places in my soul, and only you can satisfy the hunger that lives inside me. Just you and no other, Hajime. I will be yours forever."

"And I am yours, _simpatie. _As surely as the blood in my body craves sustenance, so my soul craves the touch of yours. You have bewitched me and I will never be free."

"Do you love me, Hajime?" Her eyes begged to know, and there was nothing he could deny her at this point. Perhaps it was time to stop denying it to himself as well.

"Aye, my love. I love you." A tender yet passionate kiss fell to her mouth as he lowered his weight on top of her. Bracing his forearms on either side of her head, Saitou wove his hands into the satiny mass of her hair. She shivered beneath him and he felt her drop her jaw opening her mouth wide to him. "Tokio," he rasped and drove his tongue deep into her, tasting the raw hunger of her need as she sucked him inside. He wanted to take his time and savor her, taste her, feel her but the grip of his control was quickly failing him as the heat of her consumed his senses. And as he pealed the scant black dress from her body, Saitou promised himself he would take his time with her later–later, after the hunger was satisfied. Then he would explore and reacquaint himself with the beauty she possessed. He would relearn every curve, line, and swell of her body but for now his need to possess was too great to deny.

"Ha-jime," His name fell in splintered gasps from her lips. The feel of his smooth, muscled chest rubbing against her sensitive breasts was sending her awareness of him over the edge. "I want you." She groaned thrusting up against him.

"I know." His voice was ragged as he buried his face in her perfect flesh. "Dear God, you're beautiful." Ridding himself of the last vestiges of his clothing, Saitou enfolded her body against him, molding her softness to his unyielding planes. She whimpered and tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling him into her warmth. Her obvious need burned through his senses making him feel an urgency he was having difficulties ignoring, but he wanted to hold off a little while longer. He wanted to make her scream with need, and then he would take her. He wanted the sound of her voice ringing in his ears before he made her his.

He slid one hand down the line of her body caressing the softness and heat of her as he went. She must have just fed for her skin to be so hot, and the thought of her being filled with fresh blood sent a shiver of hunger through him. "Scream for me, Tokio," he growled against her breast. "Scream for me and tell me you still belong to me. Tell me–say it. Say you belong to me."

"Oh God, Hajime," the feel of his lips upon her skin brought her up off the bed as her back arched. "I do–belong to you. I always have, _simpatie_, and I always will."

A deep groan of satisfaction erupted from him as he felt the velvet heat of her enclose him, and he buried himself deep inside. "I should have married you," he breathed into her ear as he thrust deep into her willing form. "I should have made you my _nevasta _long ago, so long ago." He heard the fragmented cry of his name tumble from her lips and felt the wetness of her tears slip along his cheek.

He knew she was his equal in all things; she always had been even in the old days when he first laid eyes on her. She had become an obsession to him. Her beauty and fiery nature had seduced him into claiming her for his own and making her one of them. She was the last he had sired, and the scent of his essence remained within her coming to the surface when her emotions ran high. Everyone knew she belonged to him, and until he finished with her, no one would touch her. But as he joined their bodies in that ultimate embrace, Saitou realized he never would be finished with her. He would never be free of her hold over him, and perhaps he didn't want to be. She was the only woman he ever considered making his mate. The only one he kept going back to.

"I do love you." His lips worked against hers and he pushed his tongue back into her mouth. "I have never wanted anyone but you, not in all my life. It has always been you. Always, from the very beginning. You are the only one to ever touch me with those feelings. Only you." A sob escaped her and he pulled her tighter into his embrace feeling his need rise and begin to peak. "There can never be another, never." And as he slammed into her, Saitou felt her body shudder violently beneath him and he buried his face in her neck allowing his fangs to pierce her soft skin.

Blood hot as lava poured into his mouth and he gripped her in an iron hold. She writhed and bucked beneath him her nails scouring his back as she gave up her soul to his claim. Hunger quaked through his body and he pulled his head back crying out her name as his release washed over him in a wave of heat. If only they could have children, he knew he would gladly stay and rear a family with her, but the nature of their kind prevented procreation.

Not for the first time, Saitou wished he had found her before he was changed, but knew it was an empty prayer. They were what they were and nothing would ever change that, but he was beginning to understand why he kept coming back to her. He needed her. She was the light in his spirit and it was she that kept him focused on the future and the needs of his people. He would destroy Cel and then he would take her as his _nevasta. _He would make her his Queen and they would rule the world together. A satisfied growl crawled out of his throat as he envisioned her setting on a throne beside him. Yes, that is exactly what he would do.

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The faint sound of ice clinking into crystal slithered across the large room, and then the unmistakable noise of liquid falling over that ice as someone made themselves a drink. The sounds of pleasure filtering down the stairs from the second floor were sifting through his awareness and he wondered if vampires really enjoyed sex or if it was the exchange of blood that made the mating so satisfying? It was a question that had plagued him for many years since being in The Master's service, but he had never allowed himself to ask it. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"You got another one of those?"

Arturo looked up and met the steady blue gaze of his old friend as Chou wandered across the room and took a seat at the bar. "I thought you gave up drinking?" He smiled as he dumped several ice cubes into a glass and then splashed a fair amount of the amber colored liquid over them.

"I did, but I'm thinking about starting again." Chou raised the glass in a mock toast and took a healthy swallow. "I'm gonna have to have something to help me keep my nerves calm."

"I thought that was what your hash joints were for?" Arturo laughed as Chou's face darkened.

"Hey, you know I don't do that shit," he growled and took another swig of his drink. "I want to keep my nerves calm not fry my brain."

"I'm sorry, my friend. I couldn't resist the joke."

"Hmmm, I forgot that about you."

"You should know better. Smoke?" Arturo offered Chou a cigarette and then lit one up for himself. "Light?" He handed the zippo over the bar and watched as his friend flamed the Marlburo he gave him. "This is what keeps my nerves settled."

"Smoking?"

"Si, it's the nicotine I suppose. It keeps me on my toes and seems to satisfy the need for something... whatever that is."

"I understand. Maybe I ought to take this up instead of drinking. What do you think?"

"The Master would be more understanding. You know how he feels about drunks."

"That is true. I'll have to watch how much I drink then, won't I?"

"If you want to keep your head, you will."

"Ah, yes, there is that." Chou took a long drag off the cigarette, holding the smoke in his lungs for several seconds before blowing it out. "I am quite fond of my head. Would be a waste to lose it over something as stupid as being drunk." Arutro chuckled in response taking a drag of his own smoke. "How is it you've managed to keep yours attached for son long when you deal with him every day?"

"I am most careful in all things I say and do around him. He is not so difficult to please if you know your place and keep it."

"I suppose, but it must be nerve wracking none the less."

"Si, at times, but I enjoy the benefits of my job so I endure it." The whiskey sloshed in his glass as he lifted it to his lips. "There is much to be said about being the right hand of the Devil."

"I would think it's much better than being his dinner, eh?"

"Indeed." An acrid smile curved the Italian's lips as he set his glass back on the bar. "Although, I must admit, if I am to die by his hand, I would rather he bit me and drank me dry than chop off my head."

"Are you kidding me? What on earth would make you want that?" Chou was incredulous as he took a drink of his whiskey. "I should think that would be the last thing you would wish for."

"No, it is my death of choice if I were ever given to choose."

"Explain that to me please, because I don't fucking get it."

"Just to know," he replied in a quiet, thoughtful voice. "I have always wondered what it was like for those he devours. The long, slow process of draining them dry is really quite thrilling to watch, and it has intrigued me for years."

"You want to know how it feels? That's insane."

"Perhaps, but it would be the closest to The Master I ever got, and for that, I would suffer it."

"You love him that much?"

"No, I respect him that much. He is everything to my life. I would die that he might live." Arturo took another drag off his cigarette. "He is the strongest being I know, as well as the most just. I have never seen him pass sentence without giving it much thought before hand, and I have never seen him do anything that created suffering in those he's punished."

"He tears their hearts out, Arturo. He rips their throats open and leaves them to bleed to death. Would you call that just and merciful?"

"Si, I would." His brown eyes sought out the blue of his companion. "They die quickly, but they also die knowing why they are being punished. He never kills for pleasure. I don't think he cares for it."

"He's a bloody vampire. Of course he likes it. It's the thrill of the hunt that he needs, you know that as well as I do."

"Perhaps, but he has to have a reason to hunt. He is not careless or impulsive." Arturo added more whiskey to his glass. "He doesn't even feed that often anymore."

"Well, he's so ancient his body has probably grown accustomed to not needing the blood as those younger do, but I know he must have to feed at least once or twice a week. Doesn't he?"

"Si, but it is not like you think."

"What do you mean, not like I think? What does he do, order it in?" Chou's eyes danced as he faced Artruo's smile. "Or do you go out and find it for him?"

"Neither, you idiot. We give it to him."

"We? Who is 'we' and what do you mean, you give it to him?"

"All of those of us who are loyal offer our blood to him."

"You let him drink off you?" Incredulity colored the voice.

"No, we do little blood-drives of a sort. We mainline it out in pints and store it in a freezer for him. He seems to think that makes us more committed to him if we give him our blood freely. It is an easy alliance to maintain, and he gets what he wants. In all ways."

"That is the strangest thing I ever heard. Are you telling me he never goes out and runs down a meal anymore?"

"No, I'm not saying that. There are occasions that he craves the fresh living blood, but that only occurs every two or three months. Besides, with the way things are progressing with the Pure Bloods, the less he is out on the street the better."

"Do you think they are going to try and kill him?" Chou's voice was quiet and worried.

"Si, it is only a matter of time now before they move against us."

"Then it's true?" Chou drained his glass and put it out for a refill. "The Fang really has risen and come to be?"

"Si, he has been sighted in New York City."

"Fucking hell! That's just great. Isn't that where that bastard Crede lives?"

"The Prince? Si, that is where he has his private residence, or so I have been assured although no one has ever been able to find it."

"Not find it? Why not? I hear he lives out in the mainstream away from the clans. He should be easy enough to find."

"So you would think, Chou, but no one has ever been able to pinpoint his location. He is a crafty one, Prince Crede. He alone would make a worthy opponent, but this 'Cel', he is going to be much more difficult."

"'Cel'? What does that mean? Is it some royal designation or something?"

"It means 'The One' in the Master's old tongue." Arturo lit another cigarette. "He is called 'The One' because the Pure Bloods think he will come and save them and bring the old ways back."

"So, what does he look like? Does anyone know?"

"Reports are sketchy. No one has really gotten a good look at him, but the information we have labels him a Corban for certain." Arturo's eyes darkened with emotion as he considered his own words. "He's definitely a member of the Royal family."

"A Corban? You mean he's progeny from that bastard? How is that possible? I thought The Master killed all of the Corbans off over the last 200 years or so. Did he miss somebody?"

"So it would seem. We were under the impression the Prince only had one son, and he perished at sea. But apparently there was another, a half-blood who mated with another half-blood. This 'Cel' is the result of that. A half-breed of sorts, and Crede's kept him quiet and hidden until now. One report says the boy looks just like the Prince–red hair, small build."

"Doesn't sound very imposing to me." Chou shrugged and stubbed out his cigarette. "What's all the fuss about?"

"We aren't sure yet, but apparently he is rumored to have special gifts and powers though we do not know what they are. The Master does not seem to be worried, but the clans are beginning to show signs of distress and potential panic."

"Why?"

"Someone killed Basil sometime in the last couple of weeks. No one knows who or how, but it has spooked the clans significantly. Enough that they are actually voicing fear and uncertainty to The Master." Arturo met Chou's shocked look. "Machavelia is up in arms demanding another military commander be sent to them as soon as possible because he fears the clans might crumble beneath the distress."

"Whom is he going to send?"

"Shishio."

"Shis... you are kidding me, right? That one is an animal if ever there was one. He has no mercy in his soul. He's just as soon kill everyone as look at them. I swear if he could the blood of his victims as an overcoat, he would."

"Si, this is true, but The Master feels he will bring the clans back into line with strength of his presence. He is the best military man out there, and his knowledge of the Pure Bloods is unquestioned."

"I remember. Don't remind me. The thought that he is only half still bothers me."

"He is the only Pure Blood turned Made there is, Chou. That makes him more than unique and highly valuable to The Master and to our cause. He knows things about them that we would never know otherwise." Arturo had no love for the bloody assassin turned military genius, but he knew Saitou judged the worth of his subordinates on many different levels. Shishio was an asset because of his knowledge and because he held no fear of the Pure Bloods or Cel. The man was a butcher, but he was a valuable butcher.

"I guess you're right, but he still gives me the creeps. I have never been able to trust him."

"Well, have no fear, my friend. Shishio has no love for the Pure Bloods and even less for the humans, so I don't believe he would ever turn on The Master. His position as Supreme Commander should cement his loyalty to the cause, and I believe he understands his place with The Master."

"Maybe so, but you'll forgive me if I keep my own opinions?"

"Of course, just don't share it with The Master."

"Do I look stupid?" Chou smiled and Arturo laughed. "Don't answer that, okay? I know what you're going to say."

"Then I will keep it to myself."

"Perhaps you would care to share what you're thinking of Chou with me, Arturo. As it stands, this has been a very interesting conversation. It has given me much to think about, no?"

Both men jerked their gazes to the shadowy doorway across the room and fear congealed in their bellies as they perceived the tall, lithe frame of The Master. "Dear God," Arturo whispered in a tight voice as he frantically thought about everything he and Chou had talked about. "We're dead men."

"No, my friend." The rich, sardonic laughter floated across the room and Saitou pushed himself up off the doorframe. "I did not hear anything that makes me believe either of you are against me or plotting for my demise. Quite the contrary, it would seem you both have much loyalty to me."

"I have always been loyal, my Lord. Forgive me for speaking so freely this night." Arturo could feel the cold sweat beading up on his forehead and he quickly wiped it away. "Neither of us mean any disrespect."

"I am aware of that, Arturo." The long legs carried him across the floor and up to the side of the bar where he met the uncertain gazes of both men. "I understand your reservations about Shishio, Chou, but the strength of the man in unquestionable and he will restore the calm I need in order to push forward with my plans."

"Plans, my Lord? I was not aware you were making plans." Chou exchanged an uncomfortable look with Arturo. "You are not thinking of going to New York, are you?"

"Not right away, no. There is much I must learn about my opponent before I step into his territory." The tinkling of ice and the splash of alcohol followed as the dark vampire made himself a drink. "That is where you are going to help me."

"Me?"

"Aye, you are the best spy I have, Chou. I have perfect faith in your abilities to crawl around the Pure Blood world unseen and gather the information on Cel that I require." Glittering amber eyes pierced through the stunned man. "I need to you find out where he is, who he is, and exactly what he is capable of. And I want you to find that bloody Prince Crede for me as well."

"But Master, I–I have not engaged in those kind of activities for many years. I do not know if I am the best choice."

"Of course you are, Chou. Ninja is not something someone forgets overnight, nor through time. It is a part of your soul and I trust it will come back to you now that I have need of it." The whiskey slid past his thin lips and Saitou swallowed the burning liquid without so much as a flinch. "The ability is within you, my friend. I am sure you will find it."

"Ah, I will do my best, my Lord. That is all I can promise. As Arturo said, the Prince is a crafty old goat if he has managed to stay out of sight for so many decades as well as hide a grandson, but I will put my best efforts forward and try to find out what you want to know." Looking down at his hands, Chou was relieved to see they were still steady despite his nervousness. "Do you want me to kill him? The Prince? Do you want him dead?"

"I have always wanted him dead, Chou, but I do not want you to kill him just yet. His presence may yet serve some purpose for me and I will not pass up that possibility. So, no, I do not want you to kill him. Leave him alive for the time being and we shall see what we shall see."

"Of course, my Lord. As you wish."

"Arturo?" The name was spoken in a low, silky tone that sent shivers up the Italian's spine.

"Si, my Lord?"

"I never knew you were so curious about 'the death', old friend."

"I– si, my Lord. It has intrigued me for many years."

"I understand why you would want to die in that manner considering how many years you have lived among us vampires, but I do not understand why it is my arms you would choose to die in."

"Forgive me, my Lord, if I have offended you with my free speaking. I intended no insult."

"I am not offended or insulted." Saitou turned his amber gaze so that it rested on the fine features of his subordinate. "I am just confused. There are many among us who would vie for the right to drink you dry simply because of your position as my right hand. Why do you choose me?"

"You are The Master." Was the simple reply. "We have been through much together, you and I. It would only seem right that it was you to be the one to claim my blood... if it came to that." He met the proud amber gaze steadily. "I pray it never does."

"You have been more faithful to me than any of the others, Arturo. It would take much for you to betray me to the point of my seeking your life."

"Thank-you, my Lord." The dark head bowed in reverence and Arturo thanked God and the Devil that he was still alive. "You do me honor with your words."

"As you do me, my old friend." Once more amber eyes locked with brown. I was not aware your loyalty went so deep."

"It does, Master Saitou. I would give my life for you."

"I thank you for that, Arturo, but I pray that day never comes. It would be nigh on impossible to replace you and I do not enjoy the thought of losing your council. Let us all hope that is a fate neither of us need to face."

"Indeed, my Lord." Arturo raised his glass in salute to his master who favored him with a tolerant grin. "Here's to many more years in your service, Great King. May I live to see the day you take your seat upon the throne of all Vampires."

"May we all live to see that day, Arturo." Saitou clinked his glass against the Italians and then took the remainder of the whiskey in one swallow. "That will be the grandest day the world has ever known."

"Si, my Lord. I believe it will be."

"As do I, my Lord." Chou quietly added his affirmation to the conversation. "It will be a grand day."

"Then let us all pull together and strive forward to that goal, my friends. I need your help as well as your loyalty in order to bring this new world to life. We will usher in the future together and then we will rule all that is living, and I will reward those who are deserving."

"Reward?" Chou looked at Arturo who shrugged in confusion. "What do you mean by 'reward', my Lord?"

"Have you the wish to be turned, Chou?"

"I–ah..." Nervous anticipation snaked up the blue-eyed mans spine as he thought about what he had just been asked. "You would have me turned, Lord Saitou?"

"Aye, if it was your wish to be."

"It has long been my wish to be what you are, my Lord."

"Then you have something to look forward to, yes?"

"Yes, great Master, I do. I will double my efforts and we will be victorious in this cause. I will bring you everything you require. I give you my oath."

"Thank-you, Chou." Saitou allowed another smile to curl his lips. "You will make a fine vampire one day. Indeed you will." And then he turned to his most trusted companion. "And what of you, Arturo? What reward would you wish of me on the day of our victory over the Pure Bloods? Tell me, my friend, and it will be yours."

"To be your progeny, Lord Saitou." The dark emotion inside the brown eyes flared to life as he locked gazes with the mighty vampire. "I would ask you to make me so that I may stay by your side throughout eternity."

"You wish me to make you? You desire my blood?"

"Si, Master... for many years."

"Then it will be so, my friend. I will make you and bind you to my soul forever. Is that your wish?"

"Si, Master–it is."

"So be it, Arturo. On the day of our victory over Cel and his Pure Bloods, I will bind you to me and claim you as my son."

"Yo-your son, my Lord?"

"Aye, my son. I need an heir to my dominion and there is none other than you whom I feel is up to the task. Besides that, you are already very much a part of my soul and I would be honored if I could claim you as my child."

"No, Master, it is I who am honored. More deeply than I can ever put into words. To be your... your son, I can think of no greater gift than that, my Lord. I pray I am truly worthy of such a prize."

"You are, my son." Saitou reached out and grabbed Arturo by the nape of his neck pulling him forward until he could smell the alcohol on his warm breath. "You above all others are worthy. Never doubt that because I surely do not."

"Thank-you... Father."

"Welcome to my heart, my son."

"I have waited so long... so long." Arturo suddenly found himself burrowing into the broad chest of the tall vampire as he sought a closeness he thought would be forever denied him.

"Perhaps you should not have to wait until the day of our victory then, my beloved _fiu._"

"Not wait?" His wide-eyed gaze lifted to drink in the arrogant, handsome features above him. "What are you saying to me?"

"I claim you now, beloved _fiu, _and on the day we reign victorious over our enemies I will grant you half of everything I own."

"Master!" The moisture of tears gleamed in the dark brown depths of the Italian's eyes as he perceived the tremendous honor being promised him. "You would claim me now? This moment?"

"Aye, is that your wish?"

"Si, my blood is yours."

"Then come, and live forever."

TBC

Review :

maho no chikara : I'm glad you finally stopped and dropped me a few lines. It means a lot to me that your reading my work. Thank you for your support and encouragement. I hope to see you again. God bless, tsuki-san.

Tenshi no hana chan: How's the website coming along? Hope you liked the new chapter. God bless, tsuki-san

MZ. AmbER EYES: Nice to see you again. :) Course, its always nice to see you. Hope you liked the lemon/lime. I have to edit it for here you know. Talk to you soon. Take care. Tsuki

Whitehazia: Thank you, thank you, thank you! The pics are beautiful. You have exceeded my expectations. God bless, you sweet thing. I hope you liked this new chapter. Tsuki-san

Alexa Night: Hope you enjoyed this lemon/lime. I had fun with it. The chapter was a blast. And thank you for the compliments and your support. It means so much to me. Tsuki-san

Psychotic-catster: I love you. :P what else can I say. You make me laugh and you make me feel like I did something good. Thanks. Tsuki-san

Lere: Lere, my best beloved... It doesn't matter where or how often I see you, you mean the world to me. I love you too. You are dear to my heart and you support of me and my work is one of the most important things to me. God bless you, dear one. Tsuki-san

Rain Angst: I am so happy to see you over here now. I hope you are loving this fic as much as 'Bad Kid'. You are so close to my heart. Thanks for being there for me. Tsuki

Cattidono: I know you made in on MediaMiner to read that lemon, you funny thing. I hope you enjoyed this one just as much. You are always in my thoughts. Much love, Tsuki-san

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Ruby Soul: Thank-you bows humbly for the compliment. Eloquent? That is a word no one has used on me before. Thank you. You brought a lump to my throat with your kindness. And as for the title... 'Do You Want to Live Forever?' ? The reason I chose it will become apparent later on in the story. It is quite significant. God bless, I hope to see you again, Ruby. Tsuki-san


	17. A General for All Seasons

A/N:I have new picture gallaries open on my website. One of them is dedicated to this story and all the pictures people have drawn for it. You can reach my website by going to my author's page here on fanfiction and activating the 'homepage' link. The gallaries banner is at the bottom of my navigation page. It is new also. A gift given to me by Female Hitokiri Battousai. Oh... and before I forget. On my front page, there is an announcement about her new fanfiction contest. Read it! God Bless....................Knt

Review Response at end of chapter

Chapter Seventeen

A General for All Seasons

The Vampire, Machavelia, had been with The Master for 212 years. They met during The French Revolutionary War when the peasants were in the business of be-heading the aristocracy and Machavelia was trying to save the melon of thoughts that still bounced upon his neck. Born

The Baron of Linesse', he stood to inherit a fortune from his grandfather, The Duke of Parlei', who was a great merchant dealing in imported linens and dress goods. His own father escaped the sharp judgement of the guillotine by dying of diphtheria ten years earlier leaving only Machavelia and his elderly grandfather to face the rising masses of lunacy as they swept over the french countryside.

Saitou found the two of them hiding in an old, moldy tomb inside one of the ransacked cemeteries, huddling together like frightened children in the night. He dispatched the old man in moments without giving a thought to whom he might otherwise be, and then turned to the remaining man. Struck by the stunning blue eyes and pale blonde hair, the great vampire had stopped and considered the human being before him. It was not everyday one came across such beauty, and Saitou was not immune to such things.

Making Machavelia into a vampire had been a spur of the moment decision, but one he never regretted. The golden-haired vampire was one of his most loyal, and trusted of servants. Indeed, he was one of the few who was not slitting throat and scrambling for every scrap that fell Saitou's table. This was a vampire with class, education, and a suave elegance that The Master himself often studied and tried to emulate. Manners and eloquence were always things Saitou sought out in his subordinates after that, at least as much as was possible. That was one of the reasons he had stopped 'siring' offspring of his own. The selection of honorable and decent humans was getting thinner the farther into the future he traveled.

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New York, upper Eastside

Late Sunday night... 11:43 pm

April 2004

Machavelia

Jordan Armstrong

Stalking Vampire

Victim

The night turned cold and the mist hung upon the ground like a furry blanket of cotton and gossamer threads. The moon was only a sliver of white in the midnight blue sky, and the stars barely twinkled at all. No breeze stirred the air and the silence that prevailed was as deafening as any cannons blast. It was the perfect night for a hunt.

Warmth. He could sense the warmth of fresh blood nearby and it sent his salivation glands into overdrive. Too many nights without a healthy feeding did this to him, and he knew he needed to be careful not to make a mess of his meal once he took it. The increased hunger caused from going without the necessary quantity of blood for basic survival tended to make him ravenous bringing out the wild, frenzied demon that lived just beneath the surface of his flesh. He became more beast than vampire and the remains of his kills would often be spread out in pieces of bloody chaos.

A low, chuckling growl crawled up his throat as he lost himself in the shroud of the mist. He loved the whole ambience of the 'predator and prey' relationship, and over time he had learned to enjoy it as completely as possible. This slow stalking game of cat and mouse was nearly as much fun as the devouring itself. The sensations that could be experienced as the human's growing unease turned propelled itself into fear were intoxicating. The taste of terror was by far the most satisfying part of the game, and he had become a consummate expert at wringing every ounce of it from every one his victims.

The quick staccato 'click' of heels on the pavement identified the human as a female, or so he assumed. He had not met many males who deigned to wear a shoe or boot with a substantial heel, but there were some. A smile of saccharin sweetness curled his thin lips as he recalled the last 'high-heel' wearing male he devoured. That was a memory to be savored and one of the few that had the power to make him laugh. The poor little 'girly-boy' had whimpered and pleaded better than any woman, and screamed much louder as well. He tasted of screwdrivers and margaritas... too much salt.

'They' covered about a block and then turned a corner. The sense of anxiety drifted back to him and he settled deeper into his tan-colored trench, flipping the high collar up around his neck and ears. His hands disappeared into the deep side pockets and he quickened his pace, just a step or two, letting the sole of his heavy boots make a 'scuffing' sound as it scraped over the ground. A cold feeling of satisfaction slithered through his vitals as the sensation of anxiety within his prey intensified and the clicking staccato gained speed.

"Where are you running too so fast, little bird?" He called in a soft, sensual voice. "Do you think I am not finding you in the dark, humm? Are you feeling more safe if you tug your coat tight and scamper into the mists, eh?" The lilting inflection of his odd accent hugged the words as they dripped from his mouth and oozed into the air.

Short panting breaths reached back and tingled his sensitive hearing and he smiled, showing sharp canines as they pressed into his full, lower lip. It would be soon. He could almost hear the pounding of the human heart as fear rose up from her belly and began to squeeze the life pumping muscle. Soon the sound of her blood would be rushing through his ears as it poured down his throat, and the frail, thrashing limbs would crumble beneath the strength of his hands and body. His tongue appeared and lapped hungrily at his lips as excitement and anticipation filled him. He could almost taste her...

As 'they' passed beneath the dimness of a street light, she paused and took several deep breaths trying to calm her rattled nerves. She knew it was probably just because of the mist and the fact that it was such a dark night, but the hair on the back of her neck was standing on end for over three blocks now and she had the strangest sensation that someone was following her. Tugging the collar of her coat closer around her throat, she wondered if that breathy voice she heard was just her imagination or if she had really heard someone say something about 'scampering into the mist'? The whole thing was starting to get her frazzled and she just wanted to get home behind a locked door.

Looking around as far as the dim light would allow her, she couldn't see anything except herself and a small section of empty street. That did nothing to salve her burgeoning emotions, and as the first twinges of panic started to tickle the edge of her mind, she decided it was time to move along and put some distance between herself and her fears. After all, wasn't she being a little over-reactive? Perhaps not.

He watched with keen interest as she gazed with huge doe-eyes into the opacity of the mist looking right at him and seeing nothing. How gullible and fallible these humans were, he thought watching her teeth chatter and knees knock. She was on the verge of pure blown terror and yet continued to mind-talk herself out of the fact there could be any real danger. The mist and the dark were playing games with her, that is all it was.

He laughed to himself as he saw her make the decision to run. _'Typical. Predictable. Futile.' _

Materializing out of the gray-white wall of nothingness, he reached out and grabbed a handful of her blazing red hair as she turned to run, yanking her back with enough vicious strength to separate many strands from her scalp as well as pull her off her feet. A wild disarray of flailing arms and legs followed her as she tumbled backwards into his outstretched arms screaming with surprised terror. One of her dark brown pumps flew off her slender foot and went sailing off into the netherland beyond the mist where it was lost to the darkness.

Terror. Pure, unrestrained and growing by the second surged up and flooded his senses as he threw her small body over his shoulder and bounded into the night. The intensity was electric and was sending violent shocks of emotional lightening stabbing through his starving system creating a haze of hunger and desire so extreme, he nearly threw her on the ground and tore her into pieces right then. Instead, he vanished with the speed of the undead and sought out a quiet place where he might enjoy her to the fullest.

OoooooooooooooOoooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooOooooooooooooo

"Agh, disgusting..." Machavelia raised a handkerchief covered hand to his nose and delicately dabbed at his upper lip as if he were still human and could suffer from such frailties as nausea or swooning. As it was, he continued to play the French Aristocrat down to his very attire, preferring the velvet vests, long cotton breeches, balloon-sleeved shirts complete with ascot and lace cuff, gentlemen's coat, and walking stick. Several years earlier he was convinced that the powdered wigs, hats, and buckled shoes were not acceptable attire in the modern world, and he had finally foregone indulging himself in those particular things. Otherwise, he was every inch the french gentleman he had been in life.

"What shall we do, Monsieur?The Master's plane will be landing at your private airstrip in less than three hours." Jordan Armstrong, Machavelia's Lieutenant, gazed dispassionately at the carnage and gore that covered the ground at their feet. The remains of what had once been a young, red-haired human girl was strewn across several yards of the vacant lot and smeared over the pale stucco of the abandoned building beside them. In the middle of the desecration lay a blood-soaked, unconscious, happily smiling vampire. Obviously the subject of their obtuse conversation.

"Get Nathanial and Jeremy and pick him up." The golden vampire waved an irritated hand toward the fouled vampire. "We must clean him before the Master comes. It would not due for any of us for him to be seen in this... state. That is, if you like your head where it is attached, nay?"

"Indeed, Monsieur. I do not want to lose my head over one such as him."

"No, my friend. He may be a magnificent General, but he is a terrible vampire. So messy." Once more, the handkerchief dabbed beneath the stuffy vampire's nose as his clear, shining blue eyes judged the amount of repair needed to fix the damages this one man had cost him so far since the Master sent him to help them. "How long will it be to clean up this... this disaster?"

"At least a few hours, Monsieur." Jordan shook his head as he motioned for his comrades to come pick up the unconscious man. "I will call for a back-up crew to come and take care of this." He said taking out his cell phone. "It will all be just a fond memory before morning comes."

"Oui, and make certain there are no pieces left behind this time. I do not want the Master to hear of this on the late night News, nay?"

"Yes, of course. It will be done, Monsieur."

"See that it is, Jordan. There can be no more mistakes. We cannot afford them. Do you understand?"

"Yes. We all do." He spoke quickly into his phone and then flipped it closed. "They are on their way and everything will be done. I give you my word, Lord Machavelia."

"Oui," The golden hair danced around his face as he nodded, and then Machavelia turned one last baleful look upon the departing menace. "Make certain he is in clean clothes as well, Jordan. He must be at least physically presentable for the Master when he arrives." The Vampire favored his Lieutenant with a cold, meaningful stare. "I am still quite fond of my head, oui?"

"Yes sir."

"Then let us leave this terrible place to the ghosts that choose to linger." Turning on his heel, the tall blonde vampire spun his walking stick out in front of him and gingerly tapped the tip upon the gory obstacle in his path. "Pretty eyes... lovely hair..." he murmured as he looked briefly upon the severed head of the dead girl. "Pity he always has to tear them to pieces, nay, Jordan? I'm thinking this one was perhaps quite beautiful... such smooth skin."

"Yes, a pity indeed, sir." Behind his departing commanders back, Jordan quietly muffled a nauseated 'erp' as his dinner tried to come up and say a second 'hello' to his palate. Sometimes it just didn't pay to still be a human.

OoooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooooooo

New York, Upper Eastside

Linesse', Estate of Gardens

Early Monday Morning... 2:37 am

Haijme Saitou

Machavelia

Jordan Armstrong

Shishio Makato

"Welcome, Great Master, welcome to my humble home." Machavelia gracefully approached the tall, lithe figure standing in the center of his parlor and sweeping in a low, flamboyant bow tried to cover up his growing sense of unease. Jordan had yet to return with the guest of honor and he knew that would be one of the first things the Master asked about... if not the first.

"Thank-you, Machavelia, but all of this pomp and bullshit really isn't necessary." Saitou's voice was sharp and it stabbed through the golden vampire bringing him up abruptly to face the stern features. "Where is Shishio? I've been hearing a few, shall we say, interesting tales about his activities since his arrival."

"I... ah... What have you heard, my lord?" If vampires could sweat, Machavelia would be drenched in a cold one at that moment. He knew exactly what the Master had heard, but he was trying to stall for time hoping Shishio could answer for his own actions instead of himself being held responsible.

"Don't give me any of your pretty french manners and double talk, dammit! You know precisely what I'm talking about, and now I want to know what the fuck is the matter with you that you can't keep control of this outpost without my constant intervention?" Fury crackled around Saitou's body like snaking tendrils of wild energy as he started to pace back and forth across the polished, hard wood floor. "I don't want to hear anymore excuses, Machavelia. I don't want to hear you whining about 'Cel' and power waves that wake you up at night, and I don't want to hear anymore about wavering resolves. Do I make myself quite clear?!"

"Oui, oui, my lord, but if you will permit me to try and explain about the General..."

"What you talk about me, you over-stuffed, peacock?"

Saitou swung around with narrowed eyes and observed the loud-mouthed, swaggering vampire as he wandering jauntily into the room as if he had all the time in the world. "And just where the fucking hell have you been?" He demanded.

"Sleeping off my last one-night stand, Uriel. Surely you know how good it is to drink until the oblivians take you away, eh? Or have you forgotten everything... old friend?" Shisho dropped down into a chair of velvet brocade and satin plush. Languidly he hung one leg over the overstuffed arm and took out a pack of cigarettes. "Have one?" He offered negligently. Saitou shook his head. Shrugging noncommital, Shishio slipped the fag into his mouth and lit it.

"How often must I remind you, General Maketo, not to call my by _that_ name?"

"It would appear at least once more... Lord Diamond." A puff of smoke, an ash flicked on the floor, and a pair of flaming vermillion eyes bearing hard into the tall vampire. "What is the difference to us what we call each other, Uriel? Whether I call you this or that, or you call me Shishio or Milos?"

"Shut-up, you fucking disgrace! Don't you understand anything inside that scrambled egg you call a brain? Don't you see that every time you go out on one of your 'one-night stands' you put the whole out-post in danger? Can't you see anything past your own arrogant, self-serving nose?"

"Tsk, tsk... Hajime, but you do get worked over the smallest of things." Another puff of smoke, another ash on the floor. "You should learn this stress relief everyone talks of, eh? Or perhaps you will be dying so young." The level of maliciousness evident in the cascade of chuckles that accompanied those statements made Saitou seethe... and Machavelia flinch. "Come, have a smoke and calm yourself. Your golden-child, here, has taken care of all things. There is nothing to be fearing."

"Meaning what, exactly?"

"He cleans up after me, no?" Shisho burst into laughter as the blonde vampire gasped and covered his mouth with his hand. "See, he thinks I know nothing about his little mop-up parties trying to save his own bloody melon, but I do know, and believe me when I tell you, Machavelia–if Uriel wants to lop off your head, all the bowing and ass-licking will help nothing for you. He will still take it off–right at your rediculous shoulders."

Machavelia was spluttering and looking nothing like the elegant, classy french gentleman he was known to be. Instead, he was starting to appear more and more like a panicked chicken trying to escape a crafty fox. Frustration filled the room and Saitou angrily gritted his teeth. If Shishio wasn't so valuable an asset, he would kill him himself, but he was valuable. More than most understood.

"Get out," Saitou growled to the flustered frenchman. "And take your men with you. I want to talk to the 'General' alone–if you don't mind."

"Oui, oui..." Machavelia waved all of his people out of the room and he quickly followed suit turning to close the double doors behind him. "Forgive me, my lord... I did try."

"Of course. I will deal with you later." An audible gulp was the only reply he heard after he spoke, and then the doors shut with a loud 'click'. "Alright, you bastard," he gritted out between his teeth. "Let's have it. Just exactly what is your problem? Why are you acting like this when there is so much depending on you?"

"You mean, why am I acting like this when 'little brother' is close here and could start causing difficulties for you? Isn't that what you are really meaning... Uriel?" Shishio blew the last puff of smoke out and dropped the used butt on the floor where it fell close to the pile of spent ashes. "Let us at least being honest with each other if we are talking. You are afraid of him, no?"

"No, I am not afraid of him, but you should be."

"Hmm, and why is that? I am not thinking I have anything to fear from so small a man."

"He may be small, Milos, but he has the blood... he is The Fang. Don't you remember the Prophecy?"

"Bah," He waved a hand through the air dismissing the significance of that statement. "The Prophecy is just words running from a dead woman's mouth. They mean nothing to me. Your little 'Cel' cannot bring harm to me, Uriel. He is insignificant like bug. I will squash him beneath my boot."

"And if you can't? What then? Have you thought of that?"

"Perhaps it is you who needs to be thinking of that, my friend. I am only to fight your war, not your battle with 'Cel'. You said to me you would kill him yourself. Why am I needed to be afraid of him? I will probably not even be seeing him, only his little soldiers who come out to die under my sword."

"Your arrogance is intolerable, Milos." Saitou moved across the space that separated them and sat down in the chair opposite the lounging vampire. "Why must you behave this way when there is so much at stake now? Surely you can sense who much his powers are growing as I can. The very atmosphere here within the city feels electrified in a way I do not remember and I must admit to feeling surprised by it."

"That must be unpleasant for you, Uriel." Shishio turned his gaze toward the closed double doors and frowned. "Are you certain it is not fear you are experiencing rather than this surprise?"

Saitou's glittering amber eyes narrowed dangerously. "No, it is not fear. The boy may be more powerful than I was originally betting on, but he is inexperienced and naive which still gives me the edge I am looking for."

"How do you see that as an edge?" The glowing vermillion eyes continued to stare at the door as if he could see something on the other side. "Naivety is one thing, but inexperience can be easily washed away by the right teacher. Even you know this to be truth, yes?"

"Yes, to some extent, but he can't learn everything we have learned over hundreds... or thousands of years. He doesn't know how to be a 'vampire' or fight like one."

"Perhaps, old friend, that is not the issue." Suddenly Shishio bolted to his feet and flew to the doors on silent feet. In a flash of pale hands he yanked the portal open thinking to surprise an unwanted lurker on the other side, but the hallway was empty. "Hmm..." Delicate, sensitive nostrils sniffed the air trying to catch even the slightest hint of a scent but there was nothing.

"What has gotten into you?" Saitou rose from his chair regarding the other man with strained curiosity.

"Nothing it seems, although I could have believed there was someone listening to us talk through this door." Blood-red eyes narrowed into suspicious slits. "It seems I was mistaken, eh?"

"So it would seem." However, Saitou now had the strangest feeling of discomfort that perhaps the paranoid vampire was right after all. Something seemed out of place but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Come back inside," he said at last and motioned Shishio to come sit with him again. "Let's have a cigarette and talk seriously. There is much to do."

"Yes, and plans to make." One more intense look up and down the dimly lit hallway reassured him no one was about and he shut the door with a slow, deliberate motion. "You have not fooled me, little spy." He whispered just as the lock 'clicked' into place. "I know you were there... I know you were. I could feel your eyes through the door, and I am never wrong. I will find you soon, and when I do, we will be having such fun, you and I. Such bloody fun."

"And where are you off to in such a hurry? I don't remember anyone having orders to go out tonight?"

"It's alright, Jordan. Leave the boy alone. He's probably hungry." Machavelia appeared out of the shadows and gently chided his Lieutenant. "I have not seen him feed on anything substantial for two days so he is most likely starving, oui? Is that it? You are going out to hunt, nay?"

"Yes sir. You are right. I haven't had anything decent for days and I'm famished. I really need something to sink my teeth into." The smile was completely innocent, yet the large brown eyes were filled with glittering hunger and malice. "I didn't know I had to have permission to leave the grounds to go trolling."

"I usually like to know where my vampires are off to. It is more of a courtesy than anything else, you understand? I must be accountable for so many lives to the Master, and each one is so much more valuable now with all these new goings on with The Fang and The Clans. I must know where you are so I can keep my tallies accurate."

"Of course, Monsieur. Forgive me. I had not thought of that. I will remember in the future to let someone know when I am leaving for something to eat. I trust I am not a prisoner here?" The last was stated with a charming half-grin that made the blonde vampire chuckle.

"No, dear boy, you are not a prisoner, but you are accountable for your whereabouts."

"I will remember that." The dark-haired boy-vampire bowed low in a sweeping gesture that obviously pleased his commander. "I would also like to visit some old friends who are considering joining the Master's cause. Is this permitted?"

"Oui, Oui, of course. I will not expect to see you back until tomorrow evening then."

"Thank-you, Monsieur. You are very generous. Would you like for me to bring you anything back? Some wine perhaps?"

"Ah, some wine... that would be lovely."

"Anything particular?"

"Something old, dear boy. Something old and very expensive." Machavelia grinned and tapped the boys shoulder with his walking stick. "I drink only the very best, oui?"

"Indeed. I will search and find the oldest, most expensive bottle of wine New York has to offer."

"Splendid! But be certain it is not bitter. I do despise a bitter wine."

"But of course, Monsieur. Only the best for the Baron of Linesse'." With that, the boy bowed again and disappeared into the night, a lilting whistle drifting on the breeze behind him.

"I don't trust him, Monsieur." Jordan's teeth ground together in agitation as he watched the lithe figure dissolve and become part of the darkness. "He just doesn't seem to be as sincere as the others. I think you should be careful what you say and do when he is around."

"Oh nonsense, Jordan." Machavelia thumped his stick several times on the ground as he dismissed his man's concerns. "There is nothing wrong with that boy other than he was 'made' at a very young age and still believes he can behave in that manner. He's carefree and impetuous and perhaps a little insubordinate, but there is nothing untrustworthy about him. You are far to suspicious, my friend." He patted the frowning human on the shoulder as he turned to walk away. "You see conspiracy in everything, Jordan, and that is a way of thinking that you must learn to control if we are to win the Master's approval again. If we cannot control ourselves, how can we control an army, eh?"

"But, Monsieur..."

"Enough, Jordan. The boy is no threat to us. He is just a boy. Leave it at that. I will hear no more of this, is that clear?"

"Yes, Monsieur."

"Oui. Come then, let us share a glass of wine and toast to our good fortune that the General showed up when he did and saved us from being the ones to try and explain his behavior, nay?"

"Indeed. I'll drink to that."

As they walked back toward the Mansion, Jordan found himself dwelling on the young-boy vampire despite what his commander had said. He knew he was still going to keep an eye on the brown-eyed menace no matter what he was told. There was just something about that one that didn't sit right with him. Just something...

Okita raced along the outskirts of The Estate of Gardens, taking the long route around the perimeter before vaulting over the high masonry wall. He landed on the other side without a sound and then took off up the street towards the center of the 'upside' district where he knew there was a subway entrance. That was his ticket away from the stench of innocent blood and back to the real world where he could start to put his thoughts back into some sort of rational order. He knew that foremost before doing anything, he needed to talk to Major Shinomori. What he had just seen and heard was tantamount to the dropping of a nuclear bomb on the city and he needed to get that information into the hands of someone who knew what to do with it. It needed to find its way to Lord Cel wherever he was, and it needed to get to him quickly.

So, with no time to spare, Okita dove down the crumbling cement steps that lead to the abandoned subway station, and leaping over the broken customer barrier, he sped across the empty platform and jumped into the tunnel. Turning to the right, he disappeared inside the yawning darkness as his unnatural speed changed his body into nothing more than a blur of semi-colored mist. The tunnel, he knew, would take him straight up to the annex that led to the ferry docks. From there he would repossess the boat he had stashed along the craggy banks of the bay and beat a hasty path for the island... and then home.

It would be comforting to sleep in a bed that did not stink of blood. He knew it was only two or three days since he left the compound, but being out among the 'Made' with their disgusting habits and lifestyle made him feel as though he were wearing a suit made of blood and he desperately needed to wash it off. He needed the solace of his own kind around him, and he needed something to eat that did not taste of human flesh. In the time spent away on this mission, he had neither slept well nor eaten anything of substantial value, and his starving systems were beginning to show the strain. He was exhausted.

"Major Shinomori, sir? The outer beacons are signaling a disturbance in the water on our northeast shoreline. It looks like a small boat is dry-docking, sir."

"Who is it, can you tell?" Aoshi leaned over the controller's shoulder and tried to make out the figure that was materializing on the monitor screen. "Is that one of ours or do we have unwanted company?"

"It looks like Captain Soushi, sir."

"Okita? But he isn't due to check in for another 72 hours. This can't be good news." Reaching out, Aoshi pressed the necessary sequence of buttons to deactivate the perimeter alarms and let his swiftly moving subordinate enter the compound unhindered. "He's in an awful hurry, isn't he?"

"Yes sir. I think you're right. It's not good news."

"Shit!" Cursing, the glacial quality of the dark-haired vampire's eyes grew even colder as he turned to the other controller in the small room and barked a harsh string of orders. "You, Corporal, fetch the General and The Source, and bring The Keeper while you're at it. I need the main clan leaders here immediately."

"Yes sir. Do you wish for me to any of the other Slayers?"

"No, just the leaders. Now move!" The man snapped a hasty salute and disappeared out the door, his footsteps echoing through the superstructure as he ran towards the main Operations Center. Aoshi watched him leave, eyes narrowed into slits of deep concern, and then turned back to the monitor. "Where is Captain Okita now?"

"He just entered the outer doors, Major. He should be getting on the elevator any moment."

"Good. You stay here and reactivate the perimeter. I'm going to go meet him and bring him back. Understand?"

"Yes sir. Major?"

"What?" Turning back, Aoshi favored his controller with an impatient look.

"Where do I tell the others to meet you, sir? I'm sure the General will want to know."

"In my office, Jory. Tell them to meet me in my office. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

"Right." Slipping out the door, Aoshi raced up the incline leading to the newly repaired Northgate. When he arrived, he was forced to stop and punch in the security code that would open the massive steel doors before he could pass through. Thankfully it still worked. There was so much internal structural damage to the wiring and relay circuits after Lord Cel had torn the doors open that it had taken several of their best engineers working around the clock together to repair it. At this point, he was just grateful the damn doors opened on the first try.

The hallway was still brightly lit and it didn't take him long to find a squinting Okita making his way along with one hand on one wall. He looked terrible to Aoshi who rushed over and immediately wrapped a supporting arm around his waist. Grateful brown eyes looked up into the thin, chiseled features.

"Do I look that bad?" He asked with a lopsided smile.

"Yes, you look that bad. How do you feel?"

"Like I've been run over by the 7th street bus." The two men shared a companionable chuckle and then Aoshi was trying to help Okita stay on his feet. "Funny, I didn't feel this weak a little while ago."

"Let's get you inside and some food into you. That should fetch you around in no time."

"Thank you, Major. You have no idea how good that sounds. That and a decent bed to sleep in for a change."

"What? You mean the Baron doesn't have every creature comfort known to man available to him at the Gardens?" Aoshi was laughing as his helped the exhausted man through the steel gate, but as he turned to punch in the code to close the doors, the look on Okita's face pulled him up short. "What's wrong, Okita? What happened over there?"

"It's just the way you said it, Major... 'creature comforts'–the estate is more of a lavish palace than a home for vampires--except for the smell. The smell of blood is soaked into everything–the carpets, the curtains, the linens... I swear it's in the paint on the walls themselves. It was almost more than I could stand."

"I'm sorry, my friend. I didn't know."

"No one does, not unless you've been among 'them', and then it's something you just want to forget as quickly as possible."

"I understand. I wish it didn't have to be this way."

"So do I, but it does." The narrow jaw set into a hard line as the youthful looking vampire gathered up his emotional strength. "I will find a way to cope and survive this assignment, Major. The information I already have is more valuable than we could have dreamed it would be."

"That is what I hoped for, Okita, and what I feared. It isn't good news, is it?"

"No, Major, it isn't good news but it has to get to Lord Cel as soon as possible. It is imperative he know about this. Absolutely imperative."

"Alright. Come with me, let me help you to my office. I'll have someone bring you something eat and then I'll see about getting you a bed to sleep in and some clean clothes. But first, you have to tell me everything you know."

"I will, Major. But, sir... you aren't going to bloody believe it."

"I was afraid of that."

Hiko demanded Okita eat and shower before they heard his report. One look at the exhausted vampire and the General had nearly exploded in righteous outrage. No matter how important, the report could wait until the Slayer was sufficiently recovered to give it. His care and comfort became the main priority and all other things were put on hold until the Leader was satisfied he was taken care of and all of his basic needs were met.

Okita was astonished. It was the first time he was treated this way by the leader of the clans, but then again, Hiko Seijuro was not longer 'first' leader. Perhaps that had something to do with it, or, then again, perhaps his bonding with Lord Cel was more the reason than anything else.

"Are you feeling better, Captain?" The large, white-haired man walked into the room and regarded the now clean and newly fed vampire with concerned eyes. "Is there anything you require that would help in your present circumstances?"

"No, no, General. I am feeling much better now, thank-you. You have been more than accommodating in my time of need. I am most grateful."

"It is I who am grateful, Captain. What you are doing for The Cause is not only distasteful but highly dangerous. If you are discovered, they will kill you. You know this, do you not?"

"Yes sir, I know this, but it must be done. This is the only way we can really find out what they are planning. Were we to try and have one of our human counter-parts infiltrate their ranks, the smell of his or her deceit could be picked up by even the most unsensitive of 'Made' noses. No, I am afraid this is the only way."

"I am afraid I must agree with you, but that does not mean I have to completely approve of what is being done." Hiko turned and motioned behind him. In short order he was joined by the solemn trio of Aoshi, Kaoru, and Soujiro who filtered into the room and found seats. "It is time, then, to hear what you have discovered, Captain. Major Shinomori tells me that I am not going to like what I hear, and that I am not going to believe it either. Is this true?"

"Yes sir. I believe both of those statements are correct. I have not spoken to the Major of what I am about to tell all of you, so everyone is hearing this for the first time." Taking a deep breath to steady his suddenly fraying nerves, Okita folded his hands in his lap and trained his eyes on the stern features of the General. "The Black Diamond is in New York. He flew in this evening on a private plane."

"Hajime Saitou is here? Inside the city?" Kaoru leaned forward and gasped, her large blue eyes grew round with shock. "Are you absolutely sure, Okita? Did you see him for yourself?"

"Yes, I saw him with my own two eyes, and I nearly dropped dead from the shock, I can tell you that."

"No kidding." Soujiro's face drew into tight, stressful lines as he digested what the Slayer turned spy was saying. "How many men did he bring with him? Do you know?"

"I'm not really sure. I only saw two." Okita's brown eyes met and locked with The Keepers dove-gray as the two men shared the intense moment. "He brought his dog, Arturo, of course..."

"That bloody Italian butcher." Soujiro spat in the middle of his friends answer.

"And another man I have not seen before. A blonde man with striking green eyes. He is very young and still human. I heard them call him 'Shiiba'."

"Must be a new 'boy'. Saitou's always on the look out for a new pretty face." Aoshi's voice was cold, sharp as any steel as he folded his arms across his chest and frowned. "I wonder what could have happened that would have brought him out of hiding?"

"I... I was getting to that." Okita cleared his throat and met the four pairs of eyes that were now glued on his face. "He's replaced Basil... the military leader they've had go missing the last few weeks. No one seems to know what happened to him but he went out one night and never came back. They are assuming he's dead."

"Basil is... dead?" Hiko leaned forward, his emerald eyes wide and filled with disbelief. "If someone took him out, they would have to be very good. Basil was as old as I am–as Saitou is. He was Saitou's second in command during the Revolution that destroyed the Monarchy and began the War."

"I–I was not aware of that." The hands in Okita's lap fidgeted nervously and he broke eye contact with the General. "Perhaps that is one of the reasons The Diamond has come out of hiding then, sir. That, and because this vampire he's replaced him with is... causing problems."

"Problems? What kind of problems?" Kaoru sat back and started to chew on one of her fingernails. "Who is it? Anyone we know?"

"Well, let me explain something first." Okita shifted uncomfortably in his seat and then leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "He's different from anyone we've met before, and he doesn't hunt and kill like the other 'Mades'... he's... he's a masochist."

"A 'masochist'?" Soujiro turned to look at his sister and father, worry etched on all of their faces. "What does that mean?"

"He likes to stalk his 'prey' like a wolf or a lion or something. He likes to 'feel' their fear before he attacks, and then once he does..." Discomfort filled the air around Okita as he tried to find the words to explain. "He makes himself go without feeding substantially for several days so he is very hungry. Very hungry."

"What are you getting at, Captain?" Aoshi looked almost as uncomfortable as Okita felt.

"He goes sort of crazy once he starts feeding. I suppose you call it some kind of a blood-lust. He... ah... he rips his victims to pieces. Sometimes he feeds on their flesh as well as drinking their blood."

"Dear God..."

"Jesus..."

"Holy Shit!"

"Yes, exactly. Apparently, he leaves quite the mess when he's finished. Machavelia has been doing his best to clean up after him and keep it out of the papers and such, but who knows how long that will last. This guy isn't too particular about who or really where he eats. The last mess he made was tonight in a vacant lot over on 12th street behind the old boxing club. I heard he left her 'all over the place'... ate her heart and tore her head off. They found body parts strewn up to 15 feet and blood smeared on the back wall. He apparently had a pretty good time with her."

"I think I'm going to be sick." Kaoru's face turned a sickly pale shade of gray-green and she was pressing the back of her hand against her lips. "He sounds more like a monster than anything else. I've never heard of a 'Made' doing anything like this before. I have never even heard of anything like this. Is he insane?"

"Maybe," Brown eyes shifted warily as Okita considered his next piece of information and the weight it carried. "If anyone were going to be insane in the midst of this chaos, it would probably be him."

"Why do you say that, Captain?" Hiko cocked his head and favored the younger vampire with a questioning look. "Why would he be more likely to be crazy than any of the rest of the 'Made', or any of us for that matter? Just exactly who is he? You haven't told us that yet."

"I am aware of that, sir. I–I am not quite sure how to tell you who he is. I don't think you'll believe me."

"And why wouldn't I believe you, Captain Okita?"

"Because, sir, if he is who I think he is, he's older than any one of us or 'them', and he would be an abomination of monstrous proportions."

"You are being very evasive, Captain, and my patience is beginning to wear. Just speak the name. We will deal with the legitimacy of the information after that."

"Yes sir, but remember it was you who asked."

Hiko's eyes narrowed at that ominous sounding statement and he began to wonder at the wisdom of his own judgment. "Very well, I accept that responsibility such as it is."

"He goes by the name of Shishio Makito."

"Wait a minute, I have heard of him," Aoshi sat up, his eyes wide with alarm. "But I remember the name from the Japanese Bakumatsu in the late 1880's. He was a hitokiri for the Imperialist Government during the Meji Era."

"A 'hitokiri'?" Kaoru looked confused. "What the hell is that?"

"An assassin, Slayer, he was an assassin." Aoshi's face took on a look of pure disgust. "A manslayer without conscience or regard for human life. A murderer of innocents and a defiler of all that was holy back then. That's when he was turned. Durning the Japanese Revolution. One of Saitou's henchmen, by the name of Larnock, got a hold of him and sired him into the 'order'. After that, his killings became even more notorious. The Japanese called him 'Oni-tenshu'. The 'Demon God'." The icy gaze turned and came to rest with freezing intensity upon the pale face of the man relaying the terrible information. "What else is there, Captain Okita? I sense you are not finished."

"No sir, sadly I am not. Tonight, after Saitou arrived, he was ushered into Machavelia's private parlor. I waited around and watched to see what would happen... about ten minutes later Shishio Makito entered and words were spoke. I was too far away to hear. Shortly after, I did hear The Diamond demand everyone leave and I saw Machavelia and his dog, Jordan leave the room. That was when I made my way over to the doors so I could listen."

"And what did you hear, Captain?" Aoshi wasn't at all sure he wanted to know the answer to that question."

"Shishio kept calling Saito 'Uriel'..."

"That is his 'real' name." Hiko interjected. "Gustav Uriel."

"So I assumed, but then... Shisho called himself by a different name as well."

"What? What name?" Aoshi looked confused and on the verge of anger as he reached up to scratch the back of his head. "He's always been Shishio... since before he was turned. What other name is there?"

"He–he called himself... Milos, Major. He said his name was Milos."

"M-Milos?! Dear God, are you certain?"

"Yes, and when Lord Cel was mentioned, he called him 'little brother'."

"Oh my God!" Kaoru bolted out of her seat and was kneeling on the floor in front of the stunned man. "Are you certain that is what he said? Think, Okita. Are you absolutely positive that is what he said?"

"Yes, I am absolutely positive. If I wasn't, do you think I would have all but killed myself getting here tonight to tell you?"

"Okita, do you know who Milos is?" Kaoru's eyes were filled with a level of anxiety that squeezed painfully at her friends heart.

"Yes, Slayer. Remember, I was here the night Lord Cel spoke to us about Milos and The Great Sin. I know 'who' he is and I know what he did. It is because of him we are what we are."

"But that is impossible." Aoshi stood up and began pacing back and forth, his agitation clear. "Milos was a pure blood. One of Pythagorus' own sons. How can he be a 'Made'? It isn't possible. He cannot be both... can he?" He stopped and turned a confused face to his leader.

"I have never heard of such a thing. Soujiro?" Hiko turned to stare at his son. "Is there anything in the Archives? Has anything ever been recorded about such a blasphemy happening before?"

"No, father. Everything known to us says that a pure blood will die if bitten by a 'Made'. The two are completely incompatable."

"Maybe that is because that is what was always believed or assumed. No one ever knew for sure." Kaoru stood up and walked toward the door. "Whatever the truth is, Kenshin needs to know about this as soon as possible."

"Yes. You should leave now so that you can reach him before daylight." Hiko checked his watch and nodded. "It is getting close to four-thirty. That only leaves you about and hour and a half. Two hours at the most if we have fog this morning, so go, go now and may The Mother go with you."

"Thank-you, father. May The Mother be with us all."

TBC

**Review Response:**

**Catti-dono:** Aishiteru, my tenshi. You alone have the power to make me laugh, cry, and become introspective all at the same time. I thank you for being my friend, my rock, and my wailing wall. You are an inspiration that helps keep me going when everything looks dark. Tsuki-sama

**Nina:**Nina-chan, I promise–next chapter, more Kenshin/Kaoru WAFF and romance. wink Tuskisan

**Paisita:** I know, I know... I love to hate Saitou. He is one my favorite characters, and the bad guy can be sooooo sexy. I intended it to be that way. I'm evil, huh? And thank you for reading 'Black Hawke'. You can blame BelleDayNight for corrupting me on the Aoshi/Kaoru pairings. God Bless, honey. Tsukisan

**Sephiress:** Koishii-Dana, I hope you see this... I am thinking of you everyday. You are in my thoughts and prayers, dear one. God be with you. Much love always. Tsuki-san

**Psychotic-catster:** You are the BEST!! So, you're falling in love with the 'Made', eh? Hmmm, I don't know about you, girly. LOL. Saitou is handsome and a good lover... but... HAHAHA... everyone loves to love the bad guy. Even me. Evil tsuki-san, evil tuski-san

**Rain Angst:** I love you being here. I love seeing you everywhere you're popping up. It warms my heart. Unfortunately, with the weather lately... our little cabin looks like its been drowned....lol. I'm glad you liked Saitou and Tokio, but beware, they are the bad guys, be we love to hate the 'bad guys'. God Bless, sweetling. Tsukisan

**HappyAngel123:** I'm glad to see you here, and I am glad you are enjoying my 'unique' vampires. I hope you liked this chapter. Promise, more Cel and Source next chapter.

**Kaze:** Thank you for your support. It means so much to me. I know the plot is a little heavy, but I'm glad you like it. Thanks. Tsukisan

**Nanakiyoda:**I hope you liked this chapter. It means a lot that you stopped and wrote me a review. It's the people like you that make me want to keep going. Thanks. Tsuki-san

**Whitehaizea:** God Bless, you sweet thing. I've opened my 'Do You Want to Live Forever?' gallary and all of your pictures are in there. Also, I am getting a lot of compliments on the colored picture of 'Cel' that is on my front page. Thank you again for all your hard work and your friendship. Tsuki-san


	18. Officer on Duty

Chapter Eighteen

Officer on Duty

It was a quarter to seven in the morning when Kenshin was unkindly roused out of a sound sleep by a thunderous pounding on his front door. Grumbling and scratching his head he shuffled through his apartment and looked suspiciously through the peephole. A double-take and several hoarse curses later he was throwing the deadbolt back and yanking the door open.

"What in the name of Aunt Mary's sweet ass are you doing here, and how in the hell did you here without getting **_your_** sweet ass fried to a crisp?" Not waiting for the gapping, dark-haired woman to answer, he grabbed the front of her black leather coat and hauled her inside. "The sun's been up for over thirty minutes; are you fucking insane?"

"It's overcast, Kenshin. I was perfectly safe, besides, I had to come."

"Nothing is that important for you to put yourself at this much of a risk, Kaoru. Nothing." He heaved a frustrated sigh and pulled her into his arms. "You have to be more careful, lubit. You're not invincible, you know; I don't want to lose you."

"You aren't going to lose me, simpatie. I'm not that careless. I kept to the subways and the dark shadows, and thankfully, the fog rolled in and gave the extra time I really needed. So calm down and quite playing the over protective mate with me. I'm not that fragile." She burrowed into his throat and wrapped her arms around his waist. "And I know I'm not invincible... that's your department."

"Yeah, right. I'm not invincible either." His fingers threaded through the silken mass of her hair as he cupped the back of her head. "Please, promise me you'll be more careful. Don't cut it so close again. You could have gotten seriously hurt this morning being out so near sunrise. Don't do it again. Promise me, Kaoru."

"I can't, Kenshin." Her voice was muffled against him. "I can't promise you anything like that because I don't know when I'm going to have to make another emergency run like this."

"What do you mean 'emergency run'?" Pulling away, he locked gazes with her. "What's happened? Why did you think it was necessary to risk yourself like this in order to get to me this morning? What couldn't wait until tonight, or even for a phone call?"

"We can't trust the phones anymore, Kenshin."

"Why not? What's happened, Kaoru?"

"Come here," She said, and led him over the couch. "Sit down and I'll tell you what happened this morning. It's about Okita and his undercover mission at Machavelia's Estate."

"Is Okita alright? He didn't get hurt did he?" Immediately Kenshin was the concerned leader seeking after the welfare of his soldier. "We haven't lost him have we?"

"No, no, nothing like that, but things got real interesting up there last night."

"Okay, what happened?"

"The Black Diamond's in town. Flew in on his private jet just before midnight."

"Hajime Saitou is here? In the city?" Kenshin was stunned.

"Yes, apparently there are some problems he felt he needed to come and deal personally. One being the man he ordered to replace the Military Leader, Basil, whose gone missing the last few weeks."

"Basil? Why does that name sound familiar?"

"You might have heard father talk about him at some point. He was with Saitou in the beginning–in the old days when The Made over threw the Monachry and murdered the Royal Family... your great-grandparents." Uncomfortable with the subject matter, Kaoru broke eye contact and looked down at her hands. "He was Saitou's second in command in those days, and apparently he made him General over his forces here, but a few weeks ago he disappeared."

"Disappeared? You mean he went out and never came back."

"Pretty much. They are assuming he's dead because he was completely loyal to Saitou there is no way he would just up and leave. So someone dusted him."

"Any ideas?"

"One... but it's a long shot." Her eyes met his once more. "She's a bimbo friend of Soujiro's that runs with Misao's Chinatown squad. Her name is Mara. We all grew up together."

"What makes you think she's responsible?" Kenshin pulled Kaoru's fumbling hands over into his lap so he could rub them between his. "Is she that good?"

"Yes and no. She got lucky one night when she was downtown patrolling my area... you know, 'The Pimp Killer'."

"Ah ha... go on."

"She'd just finished off some slime in his car and was on her way home when she got ambushed in an ally by an Ancient. She claims he told her he was there the night of the massacre when The Made murdered almost everyone in our city, including the King and his family. She said he knew everybody's names and even your grandfather... Prince Crede. I'm thinking... and mind you it is just a guess, but it strikes me as too big of a coincidence that an Ancient gets dusted and The Made's number one General goes missing so close to the same time."

"How did she get him? I mean, if he was this Basil, he would have been an excellent fighter, and if she was only a moderately good opponent, how did she get him?"

"She got in a lucky throw and he landed on an old railing. Skewered him right through the chest and gut, and while he was laying there bleeding, she walked up and staked him with her boot heel... silver-tipped."

"Yeeowch! Fucking hell! Remind me never to get her pissed off at me." Kenshin shuddered and made a face. "That's just nasty, and I bet she got off on it too. Didn't she?"

"Of course. Everybody likes dusting a Made." Kaoru favored her mate with a lopsided grin. "It's almost better than sex."

"Oh, now I know you're feeding me full of bullshit, girl."

"You think so, flyboy? Why don't you change my mind?" Her grin was decidedly wicked.

"Baby, if I didn't have to go to work, I wouldn't let you out of bed for the rest of the day." Grabbing her around the waist, he hauled her kicking and giggling into his lap. "And you wouldn't be able to walk right for at least a week."

"Promises, promises." Her soft lips hovered over his as she fisted her hands in the heavy mane of his hair. "Can you at least kiss me? I think I've forgotten what you feel like and taste like in the last few days since you've been gone. Why haven't you been back? You said you weren't going to be gone for so long anymore?"

"I know I did," he murmured as he brushed his mouth over hers in a warm, sensual caress. "I wanted to come back sooner. I tried, but this damn case is getting so fucking sticky I can't get away."

"What case? The policemen we..."

"Yes. The reports are getting deeper and the questions are piling up. Everyone is looking at me to be the one to figure it out because it's the 'weird case of the year', so it's my 'baby'."

"You get the weird cases?" Her tongue traced his lower lip and her fingers massaged his neck suggestively."

"Always..." Her butt was shifting against his thighs and he couldn't help but slip his hands beneath her and palm those luscious leather clad cheeks. "God, you feel good."

"So do you." Tasting the interior of his mouth became a necessity and she dipped her tongue inside, rolling it over the top of his and wring a low moan from deep within him. "Are you sure you can't be just a little late for work... simpatie?"

"Kaoru! Behave," he growled in mock sternness and pushed her off his lap with obvious reluctance. "I have a reputation to uphold. I am painfully punctual. If I'm late, they'll think the world is going to cave in or something. I have to go."

"Fine," she humphed at him and plopped down on the couch. "Go get dressed and I'll finish telling you what else happened."

"You mean there's _more_?" He was incredulous.

"Yuppers. The Black Diamond is only the tip of the iceberg. The rest of the story is the reason I had to brave the sun and get over here to you. You **_have_** to know this."

Kenhin looked at his mate with distinct discomfort. He knew he wasn't going to like to this whatever it was, and the feeling of foreboding that suddenly crept over his soul brought a shiver of icy cold with it. "Alright," he said as his gaze narrowed. "Come on, you can talk to me while I get ready." Kaoru stood up and followed him down the hallway to his bedroom. "I'm not gonna like this, am I?"

"I doubt it. Father was shocked into silence and the Major almost had a seizure."

"Great, just great." Kenshin reached for a clean shirt. "Okay, I'm ready. Lay it on me."

"Have you ever heard of a 'Hitokiri'?"

"'Hitokiri'?" Confused violet eyes locked on her face as Kenshin pulled on his pants. "Yes, it's a Japanese Feudal term used to describe an assassin. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, it seems that the man Saitou chose to replace Basil with is a Made from Feudal Japan who was one of the most infamous hitokiris of that time. A real bad-ass named Shishio Makado. You ever read anything about him?"

"Shishio Makado? Are you sure that's the name?" A strange look passed over Kenshin's face as he sat down on the bed next to his mate and started to put on his shoes and socks. "I read about him several years ago when I was studying battou jitsu. He was the best... or the worst assassin to ever rise up during the Meji Era. I suppose it depends on your point of view, but he was not much better than a cold-blooded masochist. He loved the blood. You're sure this is the guy Saitou has as his new General?"

"Okita saw him for himself."

"Shit. Do we know when he got 'turned'?"

"During the Japanese Revolution some time. The Major heard of him. That's why he nearly went off the deep end. He said this guy's crazy... more or less."

"Yes, that would pretty much describe him. He loved to kill people. Whether they were part of the battle, one of his missions, or just innocent people. It didn't seem to matter to him. He got a rush off the blood. I can see where he would make a good vampire, I suppose. But he would make a very dangerous one too."

"That's why Saitou is here."

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently this guy goes on some kind of a feeding frenzy when he hunts."

"Meaning?"

"He eats, drinks, and be's merry with his victims... he tears them to pieces, Kenshin."

"Oh my God." He buried his face in his hands.

"Okita said that sometimes he eats their hearts, or other stuff, but mostly, he just spreads them all over the place. Makes a real mess of things."

"Jesus, and he's here, in the middle of our city?"

"Yes, but Kenshin... that's not the whole story either."

"You mean there is still more to this fucking nightmare? You have to be shittng me."

"No, simpatie. I wish I were, but the worst is the last." Kaoru reached out and wrapped her arm around his shoulders and leaned her head against him. "Okita was listening to Saitou and Shishio having a conversation. He was on one side of the door, they were on the other. He said he kept hearing Shishio calling Saitou 'Uriel'."

"That's his real name."

"I know, but then he called himself something else, and Saitou called him that too."

"He...he has a different name?" Kenshin's face was pensive, his gaze wary.

"He's older than all us, Kenshin. He's so old he's insane."

"What are you talking about?" Ice slid through his blood. The breath of The Mother was upon his face, roaring in his ears. "Who the hell is he?"

"He's Milos, Kenshin. "He's Milos, the son of Pythagorus. He's the reason we are all here and things are the way they are. Okita said he called you, 'Little Brother.', Kenshin... he knows who you are. He knows your 'Cel'." Kaoru watched as the information sank into her mates head. She watched as his eyes flickered with disbelief and then filled with determination. "What are you thinking?" She asked.

"That we need to start setting things into motion. We need to start making plans and putting up defense posts and watch stations." His brows furrowed as his brain kicked into high gear. "I need Sano."

"Sano?"

"My partner. Sanosuke Sagara, the policeman who works with me. We've been friends since we were kids. He's been watching my back for more years than I care to remember, and we need him."

"Does... does he know about..."

"Cel and The Cause?" She nodded. "Yes, he was with me at my grandfathers the day everything exploded. It was that night that I ... that we... It was the night 'Cel' was born. The next day he confronted me with everything, and I told him everything."

"What happened?" Kaoru was stunned and a little frightened. She didn't know a single human she could trust and this entire situation was making her very nervous.

"He still has my back."

"You trust him?"

"With my life... I'd trust him with your life, lubit."

"Oh." She dropped her eyes and stared at his tie. If Kenshin said he trusted this man with both their lives, then she would have to give him the benefit of the doubt. "He must be some kind of a great guy if you trust him that much."

"Nah, not really. He's a jerk, but he'll never lie to you." Her head snapped up in shock but she found Kenshin smiling and winking at her. "Yes, he's a good guy. But he can be kinda dense and goofy sometimes. Still, you gotta love him. He's great in a fight, and he knows the streets as good as I do. He will never betray us, Kaoru. He has already given me his word on that."

"Does he know we killed those four policemen?"

"Yes," Kenshin looked away. "He went with me the day I had to make the investigation. I wouldn't have been able to do it if he wasn't there. It was... difficult."

"Oh simpatie. I'm so sorry. I know how hard it is for you not to admit what we've done. I'm so sorry." She hugged him closer. "It goes against everything you believe, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but nothing can be done about it now. Those men are dead. I can't bring them back, but I can't admit we killed them either. If I do, we admit our kind exist and that cannot happen either. It would plunge the world into chaos and we would become even more hunted than we are now. I cannot allow that to happen." Kissing her forehead, Kenshin made a quick decision. "Come here," he said as he stood up and walked over to his closet. "Put this on."

"What is it?" She asked as she took the long tan garment he was handing her.

"It's my hooded trench. It should keep the sun off you long enough to get in and out of the car."

"Okay, but where am I going?" She look confused.

"Your going to go to work with me." His face was impassive but his eyes were diamond hard. "Everyone is dying to meet my new girlfriend anyway, so," Shrugging, he helped her on with the coat. "I'll take you under the pretense of showing you where I work."

"And why am I really going?"

"I need to get you and Sano together. We have a lot to discuss and we may as well do it in my office behind closed doors where it looks like I'm working on those damn reports. Okay?"

"Okay, works for me." She flipped the hood over her head and he nodded in approval when he noted that it covered her completely.

"Want to call the compound and tell them what's up?"

"No, the Major thinks the phone lines might be tapped. That's why I braved the sun and came to your apartment instead of calling."

"Ah, I think I am beginning to understand. Hmm," he scratched the back of his head. "I need to get Aoshi out here with Sano too. They have things to organize."

"Perhaps, simpatie, you should get Sano to the Major."

Kenshin turned to face his mate and found her regarding him with one eyebrow raised and half a smile on her lips. Grinning back, he had the grace to blush. "Um, that's not a bad idea." He cleared his throat and chuckled. "I should have thought of that."

"You can't think of everything, Kenshin. That's why you have me. I'm supposed to help you, remember?" She stepped up to him and put her arms around his neck. "Or did you forget again?"

"Forget you? Impossible." His forearms crossed the small of her back and pulled her against him. "You're my blood, lubit. I will never forget you."

"I didn't say forget 'me', you arrogant vampire. I said, did you forge..."

"I know what you said, lubit, but you talk too much." He captured her open mouth with his and both their faces disappeared inside the hood. "Come on, chatty-cathy," he mused as he pulled away. "We have things to do."

"Insufferable." She mumbled behind his back as he headed for the door.

"Yeah, but you still love me." Kenshin winked and grabbed Kaoru's hand hauling her out into the hallway. "And you'd miss me if I changed."

"Did I mention you're arrogant, simpatie?" She asked with a gleam in her eyes.

"Yup."

"Well, I failed to mention that you're conceited too."

"Oh really?" He smacked her ass hard and smiled when she squeaked in surprise. "I'll try and remember that." He stole a quick kiss and then pulled her over to the elevators. "You'd still miss me." He murmured against her ear and she started to laugh.

"Yes, I would. So don't you ever change you vampiric pain in the ass."

"You got it, baby." He chuckled and they disappeared into the elevator.

OooooOooooOooooOooooOooooOooooOooooO

"Good-morning, Captain...cold enough for you today?"

"Hello, Cloey." Kenshin greeted the booking officer as he entered the precinct. "You don't know what cold is, girl." He quipped as the cute redhead smiled at him. "This is nothing compared to the old mans patio in Manhatten."

"Oh, I get it. Your grandpa has his own personal weather institution out on his property?"

"Almost." He laughed as he signed in and dated the log book. "You'd think you were in Siberia most of the time the way he keeps everything shaded underneath that fucking vine canopy he calls a flower garden."

"Oh, I get it now. No sunlight, eh?" Her blue eyes were snapping with mischief as she eyes the handsome detective. "What's he hiding out there? Vampires or something?"

"God knows." Kenshin winked at her and she blushed. "But I froze my ass off out there more than one night when he locked me out of the house for being bad."

"You? Bad?" Cloey giggled and shook her head. "Nah, I just can't see it, Captain. You're way too anal about everything be perfect and right. I can't see you as a bad kid."

"You'd be surprised."

"No kidding," Kaoru mumbled as she jabbed him in the ribs. "Are we going already?" She asked her eyes flashing jealousy. "I thought you said you didn't like to be late?"

"But I'm not late, honey. I just checked in...we aren't in a hurry anymore." He turned and peered inside the hood and met the glitter of her angry eyes. "Um, sorry." The smile was completely disarming and devastating. Even on her. "Cloey, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Kaoru Kamiya. We're playing 'bring the S.O. to work' today."

"You...your girlfriend?" Kaoru smiled spitefully as she heard the other woman stutter in surprise. "This is her?"

"Yes, Ma'am in the flesh. Kaoru meet Cloey Burns. She's the duty officer who's here most of the time when I come check in. Five years now, Cloey?"

"Oh, at least that." She wiped suddenly sweaty palms on her uniform pants as she stood up and walked around the bench. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Kamiya. Most of us were beginning to think the detective was full of it when he said he had a girlfriend. It's nice to see for once he wasn't blowing smoke."

"Nice to meet you too, Officer Burns." Kaoru flipped the hood of Kenshin's trench back and locked eyes with the skittish human woman. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one he tries to bullshit." She winked as the other woman gapped. "He really is just a big kidder, isn't he?"

"I–ah...well, he can be."

"Uh-huh...come on, Kaoru." Kenshin grabbed her hand and proceeded to lead her away. "Is there fresh coffee?" He threw over his shoulder and caught the affirmative nod from the redheaded woman. "Great, I think I need some."

"Hey," Kaoru groused as she tugged at the iron manacle around her wrist. "Let go! I'm not going to eat anybody if that's what's got you going."

"It's not, and I know you aren't going to eat anybody...at least not yet, but you freaked the hell out of poor Cloey and she's harmless."

"Harmless hell! She's got the hots for you."

"Yeah, and your point?" He stopped next to the coffee maker and grabbed two styrofoam cups. "I assume you do have one, nu?"

"I...well...she was goo-goo eyeing you and it was making me crazy, okay?" She humphed up next to the wall and dug the toe of her boot into the floor. "I didn't like it. It made me mad."

"Ah ha! You're jealous. That's what made you behave like a cat in heat. I should have known."

"A cat in heat? You arrogant bast..."

"Tut tut, lubit." He tapped her nose with a long index finger while his eyes laughed in her face. "Temper, temper. Here, have some coffee. It'll make you feel better."

"I don't want any coffee..." She spluttered trying to avoid the cup he shoved in her hand. "I don't like how it tastes."

"Sorry, we're fresh out of saucers and milk. You'll have to settle for coffee in a cup."

"You sonofabitch!" She hissed and sent him a clear mental image of the steaming liquid being thrown in his face. "You call me a cat one more time and I'm going to..."

"Lovers quarrel?"

"Shit," Kenshin's shoulders stiffened and he flashed Kaoru a toothy grin. "The gig is up now, lubit. Put on your game face. Its show time."

"What?"

"How'd you guess?" Kenshin whirled around and came face to face with his superior officer. "Just a little tiff, Chief. Nothing serious."

"I'd hope not." The big black man grinned and peaked behind the shorter detective. "She looks awfully little, detective. You sure she's legal age and all?"

"Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure she's legal. No jail-bait for me, Chief." Kenshin winked and reached behind him to grab Kaoru by the hand. "Wildcats maybe, but no jail bait."

"I see," the chief of police gave Kaoru the once over and then extended his meaty hand. "The name is Nathan White." He said warmly and smiled when she stared at the outstretched hand. "Is she house broke, Himura?"

"Kaoru Kamiya, Chief...and last I knew I wasn't having to clean up after her." His voice was full of laughter and Kaoru glared at him. "But I think I need to teach her some manners."

"You do not!" She snarled under her breath and carefully reached for the big man's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Chief White."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Kamiya. When I heard Cloey going off about Himura bringing his girl in for the day, I had to rush right over and see you for myself."

"Am I that big of a shock, sir?"

"That is the understatement of the century, Miss. You see the detective here has been our most eligible if not sought after bachelor for a good ten years or longer and none of us can believe he's finally been hooked. But I must say, if I'd known how beautiful you were, I wouldn't be so surprised."

Kaoru blushed and pulled her hand back. "Thank-you." She said and cast a worried look up at her mate. He was smiling down at her and his beautiful lavender eyes were gleaming with pride. "I couldn't figure out why it seemed I was such an oddity."

"Oddity is not the word I would use, Miss Kamiya. Miracle comes to mind–but not oddity."

"Thank-you, sir." She said again and found herself inching closer to the warmth of Kenshin's body beside her.

"You're welcome." Nathan White winked at Kenshin and then nodded toward his office. "You are going to get through some of that disaster today aren't you? I really need those reports on my desk before the end of the week."

"I'm working on it, Chief. But if you'd quit giving me more shit to do, I might get them done faster, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go cry to your priest, Himura. Everybody's busy these days. Just get them done before I find someone who can."

"Uh-huh...like there is anybody else."

"You know, if you weren't the best detective I had, Captain, I'd replace you with a monkey. At least he'd get work done when I told him to."

"Yeah, but think about your banana bill–expensive."

"Get outta here will ya?" Nathan burst into laughter and thumped Kenshin on the shoulder. "I have better things to do that spare with you."

"Right. You're just afraid of losing again." Kenshin wrapped his arm around Kaoru's shoulders. "Talk to you later."

"If you live that long."

"Do you always talk to your superiors like that, simpatie?"

"No, just the ones I respect the most."

"Huh?"

"Never mind, baby. It's a human thing."

"You mean it's a human 'guy' thing."

"Whatever, yeah. Its that. Come on, we got things to do and Sano will be here any minute."

"Oh, is he as punctual as you?"

"Hell no. That boy has never showed up to work sooner than ten minutes late a day in his life. He'll be late for his own funeral one day."

"What?"

"Nevermind..."

"Another human thing?"

"Yeah, I guess we're going to have to educated you on sarcasm and cliche's."

"Goodie, I can hardly wait. But I warn you, I already have a pretty good handle on the sarcasm thing."

"No, really?" He led her through the door of his office and shut it behind them. "I would have never guessed."

"Shut-up." She grinned and tossed the trench across the back of a chair. "I'm not the only one who has things to learn about being in a new world with new people."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you're just as stupid at being a vamp as she is when it comes to figuring out human cliche bullshit."

"Sano!" Kenshin beamed at this partner who was setting behind his desk with his feet up. A donut in one hand and an espresso in the other. "You're early. What happened? Did your dog die?"

"Very funny, fang-boy. No, my dog didn't die. I just thought I'd see what was so hot about being here before everyone else showed up."

"And..."

"Eh," the tall man shrugged and took a bite out of his donut. "You can keep it. Nothings going on at this hour. It's boring and quiet."

"Exactly, moron. I can get work done when its boring and quiet. You know, work? That thing we're supposed to be doing with all these reports?"

"Nah, nah, nah." Sano wiped his hands on a napkin and threw it away. "You do the reports, hot-shot. I keep the chief off your back. That's the deal we made."

"And when did we make this deal?"

"When you became a Captain and senior partner, and I became the grunt with the big appetite." Sano grinned and dropped his feet to the floor. "Besides, you know I don't know shit about these reports. You have to redo them every time I help you fill one of them out anyway, so what's the big woof? It's not like you aren't going to have to do them by your lonesome no matter what so quit whining. It's getting old."

"Oh, I like you already, Sano." Kaoru's smile was three miles wide as she approached the grinning Sargent. "Anyone who can talk to my simpatie like that and live has either got to be the bravest man in the world...or the stupidest."

"I got a few old bullet scars to show you how brave I am..."

"Yeah, but all you got to do is talk to him for five minutes to find out how stupid he is." Kenshin's voice floated over from his side of the room.

"Hey, she's not asking you so keep your opinions to yourself."

"Is this another one of those 'respect' things, Kenshin?" Kaoru asked as she started to laugh. "You two set in here all day and insult each other because you respect one another?"

"Me? Respect him?" Sano stood up and wiped donut crumbs off his desk and threw them at the chuckling redhead. "I just try and tolerate his arrogant, twisted ass because no one else will work with him. I mean, you tell me? Who else in this world has to put up with a partner that turns into a glowy-eyed, fang-freak that flies? Hmm?"

"You forgot the six inch claws..."

"Yeah, those too. Have you seen those suckers?"

"Yes, Sano," Kaoru laughed and wandered over to Kenshin's desk where she perched up on the corner. "I've seen the claws, and the fangs, and the glowy-eyes."

"Hmm," The tall detective suddenly blushed and started scratching the back of his head. "I–ah... I guess you would have, huh?" His eyes were dancing as he locked gazes with her and he shrugged. "I sort of forgot about that."

"How could you forget about that?" She cocked her head to the side and regarded him with mock seriousness. "Don't tell me you forgot I was a vampire too?"

"Umm, well... you are awfully pretty, you know. I guess I sort of got sidetracked from that particular fact."

"Uh-huh." Kaoru met the laughing gaze of her mate and then looked back at the embarrassed human man. "I guess I can let that slide this time, Sano, but you better not forget again."

"Oh, no Ma'am. And you do know that my name is Sanosuke, right?"

"Um, I seem to remember Kenshin mentioning something about that, yes. Why, is it important I know your entire name?"

"Well, no, but sometime in the future if you have to introduce me to somebody or something you might want to know what it is." Sano blushed again. Why was he acting so completely stupid around her? Was she that beautiful? _Yes!_

"I'll try to remember that. And in case you didn't know, my name is Kaoru...Kaoru Kamiya."

"Ah, I did know that, but it's still nice to meet you. Fang-boy here isn't the best at introductions sometimes."

"Like you two gave me the opportunity."

"True." Kaoru ruffled her mates hair playfully and hopped off his desk. "But as it seems we have introduced ourselves, Sano, I think it's time we talked about what I'm doing here. Don't you?"

"I was wondering about that." _'Playtime's over.' _Sano returned to his desk and sat down. "Why did you risk getting fried to come to the office today? Speaking of which...I can't believe the captain did the risking himself considering how much you mean to him. Must be pretty important."

"Yes, I guess you could say that." Kaoru blushed and cast a meaningful look over her shoulder. "Do you want to tell him, simpatie, or should I?"

"You know the story, lubit, and he may as well get used to hearing things like this from you. The two of you have to start trusting each other at some point. This is as good a place to start as any."

"Hey, this sounds bad. I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"I doubt it...I didn't." Kenshin stood up and headed for the door. "Want some fresh coffee?"

"Am I going to need it?"

"Probably."

"Great, just great. Lots of cream and sugar."

"I know." Kenshin opened the door and then paused. "Kaoru, baby, I'll see if I can find you some tea. Would that be better than the coffee?"

"Yes, please. I really was serious before. I can't stand how it tastes."

"Okay, you want lemon?"

"And cream, please."

"You got it, honey. Be back in a few." The door closed.

"I'm really not going to like this, am I?"

"How much do you know about vampires, detective?"

"Enough to make me dangerous, I guess. Kenshin's grandfather educated me a little bit, and he's been doing some off and on the last little while himself. It sure isn't like the movies."

"No, it isn't like the movies." Kaoru sighed and pulled a chair around the end of Sano's desk so she could set next to him. "And it's not even what I was raised to believe."

"What does that mean?"

"The entire fabric of our history...it's been based on a lie. On one single horrible sin, and now it's up to us, Kenshin and the rest of our kind, to make it right before it's too late."

"He's always talking like it's the world he has to save. Are you rowing in the same boat as him?"

"Yes. If we fail in this task, the world will become the home to the most monstrous, merciless race of beings you can imagine. And the human population will be nothing more than cattle and produce."

"You mean 'food', don't you?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I mean."

"The whole world? Not just New York?"

"The whole world, Sanosuke. This is just where the battle is going to start. The War is going to stretch over the ocean and spill onto almost every foreign soil you can think of. None will be immune."

"World War III?"

"But on a scale that is unimaginable." Kaoru lowered her head and considered her next words. "It is not just the world powers that are in danger of being over thrown. It is humanity itself."

"How long do we have?"

"No one knows, but that fact that Lord Cel has finally risen and come to claim his place as First Leader among my people tells us that time is running out. The Made have amassed an enormous army and there are legions stationed in every major country across the world. However, they wait for word from their supreme commander before they will do anything. We must stop that order from ever being issued. We must stop The Made from releasing their army into the human population."

"Okay, how do we do that?"

The door opened and Kenshin stepped back into the office. "By making them fight us instead." He handed Sano a fresh cup of steaming coffee and Kaoru a mug with a tea-bag tab hanging out. "We attack them and force them to focus their attention upon us and away from the humans. In doing this we bring the war onto our battlefield under our terms and force The Made to engage our army."

"Do you have an army, Kenshin?" Sano leaned forward and blew at the steam coming off the top of his cup. "It sounds like these other vamps have a force of thousands to deal with..."

"Millions, my friend. There are millions of them. About five hundred to hazard a guess."

"Holy shit! And you have how many in comparison?"

"A lot less. That is where you come in."

"Me? What are you talking about?"

"I need people, Sano. I need humans to help in this war. Humans I can trust and know will fight with me and my kind not against us. If our peoples do not pull together in this battle, neither of our species will survive it. Mine will be obliterated and yours will become food for the Gods."

"Okay, I think I see where you're going with this. What do you want me to do?"

"I need you to come with Kaoru and me tonight."

"Where?"

"Ellis Island."

"Ellis? What the fuck is out there?"

"The Black Lands...the compound where Kaoru and our kind are stationed. It's a massive underground complex that houses over five thousand people as well as a medical facility, a military center, and an archive of ancient history. I need to take you there so that I can get you familiar with the rest of the Slayers and Major Shinomori."

"Major...you're really serious about this army thing, aren't you?"

"Yes, would you think I would be otherwise?"

"No, not really. But you're going to take me to a compound full of five thousand vampires? Me? One human? Jesus, talk about a mouse in a cat-house."

"You will be perfectly safe, Sargent. Surely you know that by now." The musical baritone voice slid into the room as the door opened and closed soundlessly. "Have you been injured while in our company yet? Even when Ken-san was reborn were you harmed?"

"I–ah, no." Sano's face paled as he stared into the jewel-like blue eyes that regarded him so directly. "I wasn't."

"Then you should no, my tovarus, you have nothing to fear."

"Grandfather." Kenshin put his coffee down and moved to embrace the man who just entered his office. "You got my message."

"Desigur, my boy. I came as soon as I could."

"Thank-you. I need your counsel." Kenshin smiled into the youthful face that looked so much like his own and felt the gripping strength of the princes embrace. "There is much to do."

"I am well aware of that." Crede nodded and shrugged out of his hooded jacket spilling the incredible length of his white hair down his back. "I would not brave the sun for just anyone, Ken-san, but for you and the chance to look upon The Source...I would do so many times over."

"I am in your debt, Grandfather."

"Nu, we are all in yours." Crede turned and allowed his eyes to settle upon the face of the only woman in the room. "Kaoru..." He whispered as he extended his hand to her. "I have not looked upon your sweet face since you were a tiny child."

"You–you remember me, Highness?" Kaoru stammered as she rose to her feet and accepted the prince's hand. "I never knew you knew who I was."

"Your beautiful mother, Magdelena, was married to one of my fathers finest retainers. I remember your family well and was there the day she pledged herself to Gallion. He was the finest man I knew at that time."

"He still is a fine man, Highness."

"Desigur. He is General is he not?"

"Desigur, and he has been the leader of our clans here for centuries."

"Of this I am aware. He led in my place. It was far too dangerous for me and my family to stay with the clans. We would have brought much chaos to the fragile peace, but through Gallion, I was always able to maintain knowledge of what was happening. He has been my eyes and ears for a very long time." Crede gently squeezed Kaoru's hand and then raised it to his lips and kissed the knuckles. "You are more beautiful even than your mother, my lady. The Fates chose well claiming you as The Source. I am honored to meet you at last."

"Grandfather, did anyone see you enter? I will have a terrible time explaining why you're here if they did?" Kenshin was closing the blinds of his office windows. "Having Kaoru here with me today was simple enough, but you? That is an entirely different matter."

"Of course no one saw me, Ken-san. I am old, but I have not slowed any. There were perhaps a few rustling papers to herald my passing, but nothing more than that."

"Good. Then we can talk in peace. As I said, there is much to do."

"Indeed, and your mate, Sanosuke, and I will begin. If I am not mistaken, you have work to do that will ensure you keep your day job." Crede's sense of humor was still intact and Kenshin smiled.

"Yes, I do."

"Then there is plenty to keep you busy while we talk. If we need you, we know where to find you."

"Hmm," Kaoru giggled and kissed the princes cheek. "And I thought the 'respect' thing was just a human problem."

**TBC**


	19. The Immortal

**A/N:** Gomen nasai for the lateness of the update. But, I hope it will prove worth the wait.

**Review Response at the end of the chapter.**

Chapter Nineteen

The Immortal

New York City

Police Precinct

Kenshin and Sano's Office

5:57 p.m.

Kenshin Himura

Kaoru Kamiya

Sanosuke Sagara

Crede Corban

The day passed quicker than Kaoru anticipated, and before she realized, it was going on six in the evening. She, Sano, and the prince had spent the entire day locked in one of the most intense conversations she could remember having. Kenshin sat behind his desk and worked on the reports for his superiors, listening to their discussion and adding his wisdom when it was necessary. Sometime during the middle of the day, he ordered out for Chinese food and the half empty boxes were scattered across Sano's desk, the filing cabinets, and even the floor. The fragrance of green tea scented heavily with lemon mixed the odors of sweet and sour chicken, chow-mein, soy sauce, and fried rice. Several yellow notepads were setting on the floor with writing and diagrams on their rumpled pages, and the trash can next to Sano's desk was filled with wadded up rejects.

Kenshin had long since finished his last report and delivered the pile to Chief White. Now he sat at this desk going over a list of names, items, and places that the other three had collectively come up with. He looked tired but his eyes were still sharp and perused the list with his usual intensity.

"Why do you have the (gun) listed under weapons?" he asked and looked directly at his partner. "Do you have any idea how much each one of those cost, not to mention the amunition?"

"Yeah, I know, but Kaoru says one of your men has... ah... unique weapons connections."

"Kaoru?" Kenshin's eyes narrowed as he regarded his mates passive features. "Who are you referring to?"

"Okita. He can get pretty much anything you want. All you have to tell him is what you want, and he'll find it."

"But why THIS gun?"

"Because," Sano rubbed the bridge of his nose and signed. "It's hand held but still high fire power. The ammunition can also be modified to just about anything you want."

"Meaning?"

"We can make the bullets specific to the body structure of the Made."

Kenshin stood up and ran a hand through his hair, considering the last statement as he rounded the corner of his desk. The Made had the ability to regenerate at an alarming speed and regular bullets had no effect on them. Neither did knives. The only way to kill them was with silver, wooden stakes, decapitation, or drowning them in salt water.

"What sort of modifications do you have in mind?"

"It would be relatively simple, Kens-san." Crede stood and faced his grandson. "If the tip of the bullet were hollowed and filled with a drop of nitroglycerin and then encased in a shield of plastic..."

"Nitro?" Kenshin gapped at his grandfather.

"Desigur. Exploding tip bullets are not a new thing, my boy."

"I know this, but..." The idea was brilliant.

"Just listen, Ken-san." Crede admonished the shocked detective. "Inside the plastic casing a layer of silver-nitrate can be stored..."

"Silver nitrate? What for?" Now he was honestly confused.

"The Made are susceptible to silver, nu?"

"Well, yes, but..."

"Explosive-disintegration on contact, Ken-san. No chance for regeneration at any level." Crede looked back at his two co-conspirators and nodded. "Total annihilation with one shot. Granting it makes contact with center mass or the head."

"Holy shi... how many shots in the clip?"

"Modified clip." Sano spoke up. "Maybe sixteen shots each or thirty-two if we can manage it. We'll have to see what your friend Okita can come up with."

"The cost of making something like that will be..."

"Enormous. Yes, we know." Crede threw his hair over his shoulders and rubbed the back of his neck. "But, we are talking about saving the human race as well as our own, ne?"

"Yes, Grandfather, but who is going to be willing to 'give' us hundreds of thousands of these weapons for nothing?"

"The Mob, simpatie. The Pure Blood Mafia."

"There's a Pure Blood Mafia? You are shitting me?"

"No, I'm really not. Okita has had links with the Mafia for years. One of his brothers infiltrated decades ago. Since then, more Pure Bloods migrated in and eventually worked their way up in the ranks until the majority of the Power Bosses are now Vampires. Okita's brother is the Head Boss. He can pretty much do anything he wants."

"Do the humans know who he is?"

"Yes, most of them have been recruited by him as the old ones died off. So, his human connections are quite far reaching. We just never really thought about it from an 'advantage' point of view." She shrugged and looked down at her fingernails. "They were just the 'people' who worked for him... if you understand what I mean."

"I understand." Kenshin looked off into space for a moment, his emotions churning. "You never thought about them as anything valuable, just something to be used."

"Yes." Kaoru's voice was very small as she answered. "I'm sorry."

"I know."

Crede looked back and forth between the mates and frowned. He could feel the intense fluxuation of emotion passing from one to the other and it made him worry. There was a bond between them he could neither explain nor understand and he was not concerned about it being jeopardized, but he did not want to see them questioning one another's morals either. That could create trust and judgement issues in the future.

"Ken-san," Crede made to step closer to his stewing off-spring but was taken aback when he was met by the ferocious golden glare of eyes he had never looked into before.

"Do not interfere, Grandfather."

The voice was altered as well. It was deeper, resonating through the ancient vampires bones until the tone hummed deep inside his soul. Crede stopped and stared at a face he was no longer certain he recognized. Although his grandson still stood before him, it was the eyes and voice of Cel that met him.

"Forgive me, My Lord Fang," the prince bowed his head and took a step back. "It is not my place to council you on matters of your mate. I meant no disrespect."

"This I know," was the gentle reply as the semi-altered form of Kenshin-Cel moved away from the desk and approached the distraught woman. "It is time for us to leave. The sun has set sufficiently that there is no danger to either you or my lubit." He leaned over and lifted the willing woman into his arms and held her snug against his chest. "We will meet you on the street, Grandfather. You must leave alone the same way you came in."

"I understand." The white-haired vampire moved silently to the door and passed through it without further comment.

"Come, Sanosuke. The three of us must leave now." His tender hands smoothed the worry line from the lovely features of the woman in his arms. "You have been forgiven, lubit... a long time ago." He whipered and kissed her forehead. "Forgive yourself now, please?" She nodded her head and burrowed against his chest.

"Ah, Cap... you can't go out like that, you know?" Sano pointed at his eyes. "I don't think we'd be able to explain that or the way you're talking."

"True enough," he agreed and closed his eyes. A deep breath and a moment of concentration put him back into his full human form. "Is this better?"

"Much. By the way, I think you scared the shit out of your grandfather."

"Maybe," Kenshin grabbed his coat and the trench Kaoru wore than morning. "But some things have to be established early. He can't interfere with mine and Kaoru's relationship in any way...no matter how much he wants to. No one can."

"Uh-huh. That's gonna be hard for him, you know? He raised you. He's gonna be like any parent would be. He's gonna want to help when he's sees something he thinks is going wrong and he thinks he can help." Sano shrugged into his jacket and grabbed the box the food came in, putting the half full containers back in it.

"I know, but I can't let him do it. Our relationship is beyond anyone's interference. Even his and Kaoru's father's. That is just the way it is."

"Good luck with that, fang boy. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes."

"They wouldn't fit you anyway, Sasquatch." Kenshin grinned when Sano threw him a dirty look. "You done yet, we need to go."

"I'm done already. Geez, and I thought you were impatient before. Damn!"

OooooOooooOooooO

New York, Upper Eastside

Machavelia's Garden Estate

Family Crypt, inner chamber

The Immortal

He missed the feel of the sun on his skin, that and the glory of a flaming sunrise were the only things he missed about his former existence. Everything else could be simulated in this new world of technology and creature comforts to the point he hardly noticed the absence of the sun anymore. It wasn't even difficult to find fresh, available prey now. The streets were simply crawling with meat begging to be eaten. What more could be wanted?

Cruel laughter echoed against the walls of his marble crypt as he crawled over the edge of his chosen sleeping apparatus. Ever since seeing the original black and white version of 'Dracula' years earlier when 'moving pictures' first arrived on the scene in England, he became obsessed with the idea of sleeping in a coffin. It was macabre, it frightened his associates-human and vampire, and it suited his own sense of deviant thinking like a satin glove. He had kept one ever since.

The one he slipped free of now was pure white with gold-embossed handles. The satin lining and pillow were also white. It gave him the feeling of committing a delicious blaspheme that he should encase himself in the pure color when he was so tainted and disgusting. Often he wondered what he 'beloved' father would think if he could see him now?

"Would it be making you ill to see me like this, Great Pythagoras? Would you be wanting to tear your own flesh to shreds for mocking something so pure-so holy, hmmm?" Shishio threw back his head and shouted a foul sound. "Will it be breaking your heart when your ghost eyes watch me destroy The Mother's earth, ne? Or are you believing little brother can stop me?" Suddenly the mirth faded from his voice and the fine features in his handsome face hardened and became stone. "Nothing will be stopping me from my revenges for what you and God wrought upon my head. My hands will be washed in the blood of The Mother's children until there are no more, and then I will be finding your precious Cel. What fun he and I will be having after he kills Ureil and defeats these miserable creatures. Your Holy War is failing in my hands, Father, and then both Heaven and Earth will belong to me." He whirled and vanished out the crypt door.

"The Fang may be a bloody daywalker and a nightstalker," he hissed as the night wind sang in his ears. "But I am the Angel of Hell itself. A Pure Blood turned Made; there is not a weapon made in this world or the next that can kill me. I'm invincible... indestructible... I am... The Immortal."

OoooOoooOoooOoooO

They arrived at the compound just as full dark descended. The powerboat Crede provided brought them quietly up to the shore in a quarter of the time it would have taken to row out. Of course, Cel could have flown out in even less time than that, but then the others would have been left behind him. As it was, he sat quietly in the boat, holding Kaoru snug against his side while the prince guided the boat and Sano watched for problems.

"We are here," Crede announced unnecessarily and Sano jumped out of the boat and dragged it onto land, securing the mooring rope to a nearby tree. "We must be careful to watch for traps. I doubt there has been time to turn off the security systems."

"Don't worry, your Highness," Kaoru patted the older vampire's shoulders. "I helped build the security systems. I know where all of them are."

"Oh," The jewel-like eyes regarded her with more respect. "Then I'll follow you." Kaoru laughed and led the way off the boat. Cel smiled and said nothing. Sano looked at the three of them and scratched the back of his head. The thought of booby traps was not his idea of a good time.

"This way." Kaoru waved a hand and headed off up the beach toward the derelict building. "We can avoid most of the perimeter warnings if we stick to the beach for awhile." Everyone nodded and fell into step behind her. Cel brought up the rear, forcing a grumbling Sano in front of him.

"Here, my friend, I watch your back." He said in a tone that did not allow for any arguments, and Sano was still pretty uncomfortable with this 'side' of his friend, so he didn't push the matter. This was only the second time he actually saw 'Cel', and the full transformation at that. It was more than a little disturbing for him to see his long-time friend shift into something so... alien. His demeanor was not even the same now. Instead, he was coming across as this mega-superior super-human or something. He wasn't acting all know-it-all-asshole or anything, but Sano almost felt like he was walking next to God or something. It was going to take some getting used to.

Suddenly Cel grabbed Sano by the shoulder and pulled him to a stop. "Kaoru!" He shouted over Sano and Crede's heads. "Stop, lubit!"

"Why, what's wrong?" She turned and leaned to the side, catching her mate's worried look. "Kenshin? What's the ma..."

"We have company," he said, throwing Sano to the ground and leaping over his body. "Get behind me, Grandfather."

"Nu," The white-haired vampire was catch a sense of what Cel already knew was out there. "I do not hide from a fight. I am not that old." He growled.

"I was not asking you, old man." Cel barked in fierce voice that made even Kaoru flinch. "Now do as I say before I breach your station in life and throw you beside Sanosuke."

"You would not da..."

"NOW!" Cel's fangs snapped dangerously close to Crede's throat and the flare of power that erupted around him was staggering, and nearly pushed the elder vampire to the ground. Crede straightened to his full height, squared his shoulders, nodded, and moved behind a man he could not call his grandson.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru stared at him with wide, confused eyes. "What..."

"Not now, lubit." He shook his head and then trained his gaze forward, searching for the out of place ki's he felt. _How many? _He couldn't tell, but there were definitely more than three or four and they were not Pure Bloods.

'_Can you feel them, lubit?'_

'_I... yes, oh my God! Is that why...'_

'_Yes. I can't lose either of them in this kind of a battle. It is too soon to risk anyone.'_

'_Except us.'_

'_Only us. Forgive me, lubit.'_

'_There is nothing to forgive, simpatie. We are the only ones who can be risked at this point. Nothing has been planned, nothing is in place. We are not ready.'_

'_Then you understand why I did this.'_

'_Yes. But will they?'_

'_I hope so. Mother, help me. I hope so.'_

'_Kenshin... call Aoshi. Alert the Slayers. They can help. They have surprise on their side... and the camera's.'_

'_Excellent idea, lubit. The Major is exactly what we need.'_

"What did you say, Major?" Hiko spoke into his com-link as he strode across the deck of the security complex.

"We have proximity warnings going off on the south-east quadrant, Sir. I'm getting intruder alerts but so far, there isn't anything coming up on the monitors."

"Roger that, I'm almost there. I want you to start turning lights on up there. I want to know exactly what's going on."

"Yes, sir."

"Dammit!" Cel had been gone for a few days and all hell was breaking loose. There was no word from Kaoru since she left the compound early that morning to make contact with him, and now Hiko was worried this might mean something had happened to her. If the Black Diamond was in town, like Okita said, then he wouldn't be wasting any time getting things started. Hiko knew Saitou well enough he was certain the devil was making plans already and this might just be the beginning of him showing his hand to them. "And we aren't even prepared. Sonofabitch! Time, we need more time..."

'_Time is a luxury, my friend,'_ the voice echoing inside of Hiko's head brought him to a halt mid-stride. _'It appears we are the ones who have been caught unawares, so we must make the best of what we have, nu?'_

'_Lord Cel?'_

'_Indeed.'_

'_Are you... here?'_

'_Desigur, General. I, Kaoru, my policeman partner, and... my grandfather.'_

'_By the Mother! Prince Crede is here!'_

'_Desigur. Do not worry, I will protect him, but we require the assistance of the Major and his Slayers.'_

'_Of course, tell me what you want and they are yours.'_

_OooooOooooOooooO_

It was a long time since he hunted his 'own kind' and the rush he felt was almost as thrilling as the hunt for humans. The only difference was the fear component. His kind did not experience fear on the same emotional level as pitiful humans, but the satisfaction of devouring one of them would be sweet, nonetheless and the thought made his mouth water in anticipation.

Breaching the compound on Ellis Island was so simple it made him laugh. He was immune to all of the 'traps' and quickly dismantled them, making a safe pathway through the 'gauntlet of death' for the men that followed him. The cameras were also easily dispatched, unfortunately doing so initiated the proximity alarms. He didn't care. It made no difference if they knew he was coming or not. This was just the first step in the plan he and Gustav Uriel had decided upon. Infiltrate the central compound, or at least make significant contact and gauge Gallion's defenses.

As they closed in on the center of the island, he began to sense the inhabitants. They were below the surface of the ground. He could feel thousands of them and that was mildly surprising. Uriel believed there might be two thousand, but this felt more like five. Shishio grinned, and motioned for the men behind him to stop. His eyes closed and he zeroed in on the life forces, trying to gauge what he would be dealing with and if they were aware yet of the approaching danger. Strangely enough, he sensed an increase of concern and activity. Someone knew he and his men were afoot, but there was no fear to be found. A mild sense of distress, perhaps, but not one drop of fear.

'_I don't understand,'_ he looked back at the men, wondering why, if their presence was felt, was there no fear? _'Could Uriel be mistaken about Gallion and his followers out here? Are they more than he is knowing?' _As the thought of being led on a wild goose chase occurred to him, Shishio began to feel the flutterings of something strangely familiar, yet devastatingly foreign. He turned his head to the side and looked into the glowing darkness, trying to see beyond the barrier of the old, dilapidated building. There was something on the other side. Something that shouldn't... couldn't... he wouldn't let it be real.

Apprehension slithered up his spine, and for the first time in a thousand centuries, he felt fear. He waved his hand in the air, motioning the men to stay put, and then he slipped along the overgrown path until he was hugging the side of the old brick building. The sensation was stronger, choking him and making him see tiny blue pinpoints in front of his eyes. It made him feel weak, small... insignificant. It could only be one thing... _Cel!_

Fury burned in his heart and his eyes began glowing deep, vermillion-red. He snarled, snapping his inch long fangs, and burst around the corner, blurring into the grays and blacks of the landscape as his speed propelled him toward the abomination of his own blood. Already his imagination was letting him feel the vertebrae crumbling in his hands, hearing the screams of pain when his fangs slashed the flesh of the vulnerable throat open, tasting the heavy, rich blood spurting over his tongue... He was The Immortal. Cel would die screaming in his arms and Uriel could burn in Hell for the rest of Eternity.

**"**_**I am here, Little Brother!"** _Shishio screeched as he launched his body through the air like a spear aimed at Cel's heart. The gleaming blood-red of his maniacal eyes streaking through the darkness like a laser tracking beam.

"Kaoru! Get down!" Cel shouted, shoving his mate violently to the side as he caught the impact of the flying vampire full against his chest. "OOOF!" They hit the wet sand and rolled across the ground in a flurry of arms and legs, disappearing into the wake of the bay.

"**_Kenshin!" _**Kaoru screamed, bolting to her feet and rushing to the waters edge. "Kenshin? Oh God, Kenshin, where are you?" Her voice was frantic and panic stricken as she searched the waves for her beloved. "KENSHIN!"

Crede rushed forward and grabbed her by the shoulders, afraid she would plunge into the water in search of her mate. "Wait," he shouted above the rush of the water. "Wait."

"I can't," she cried and began to struggle beneath his grasp. "I have to help him."

"Nu, you must wait. We cannot risk you both. Wait, My Lady. Wait and let his strength prove itself."

"I... oh God, Kenshin..."

"Have faith. He will not be so easily defeated."

"But you don't know," she whispered, fear and uncertainty tightening her voice. "You don't know who he fights."

"Who? What do you mean, 'who'?"

"Can't you feel it, Prince Crede?" Kaoru turned and looked into the elders face with wide terrified eyes. "You share Cel's blood...the blood of Pythagoras. Can't you feel both of 'them'?"

"Both?" Crede was confused. He had felt something before Cel demanded he get behind him, but he thought it was just the vampire that attacked him. He didn't think anything else about it. "What is this, 'them'?" he asked, looking into her frightened face.

"He's here, Highness. I don't know what Kenshin told you in his message...maybe nothing, but the oldest vampire, the oldest pure blood; that is who just attacked Kenshin. He's insane, he's... he's more evil than any Made you can imagine, even Gustav Uriel. He's the only pure blood who's been turned."

"Turned? That is impossible. No pure blood can be turned."

"It's not impossible. It's true. He's an abomination of horrendous proportions, your Highness. He is the cause for everything that is happening to our people, to the humans, everything. It's because of him that the world is in danger."

"I don't understand..."

"There is no time to explain right now, you'll just have to believe me." Kaoru's eyes turned back to the water. She was wondering how long Kenshin could hold his breath. "He was born during the dark ages... during the Holy Crusades, if I recall everything Kenshin and Father said at the time we first learned about him. It was he who first broke the law of not drinking to the point of death. He was the first to 'make' a vampire from an all but dead body, trying to make amends for his sin, but the stain was already upon his soul. He was tainted and had acquired a taste for it. Everything changed after that. Drinking the blood of the innocent and 'making' vampires became common place among our kind, and our true purpose in life was lost, the pact with The Mother destroyed, and out connection to The One severed. We were cast out of The Presence and left to wallow in our world of sin until the Revolution exploded and the sin came back to haunt our lives. This is the fruit of our labors, you Highness. Revolution with The Made. Genocide with those we created, battle for supremacy, and the struggle to control what fate will befall the humans."

"I...I had no idea." Crede stared across the waters, searching for the essence of the man he raised from a child. "I knew there would be war, but this..." He bowed his head and began to plead to the spirit of The Mother. "Who is this vampire that threatens Cel's life beneath the waves?"

"Milos, son of Pythagoras and Lillith."

"Mother have mercy on our souls."

"Kenshin... "

**TBC**

**Review Response**

**Lere:** Oh my beautiful, sweet Lere! How I miss you. Where have you been? I know, I know... I should write you a letter... It is just as far from my house to yours as it is from yours to mine. (baka tsuki-san) (bad tsuki-san). What can I say... I miss you. I haven't been on-line much during the day when you are, and at night I'm only on for a few minutes. I haven't seen you for sooooo long. :"( How are you?

**Catti-dono:** You funny thing... you just bounce all over the place. :) What would I do without you? I know, I'd be bored. I'd be lonely. And I wouldn't have anybody to laugh with. Aishiteru, Catti-kun.

**Rain-angst:** My beautiful rain-girl. It has been misty and lonely out at the cabin the last 2 months. There are leaves on the floor and cobwebs in the corners. Looks like we need to clean and air it out, hmm? Sorry I haven't been to visit... Sessha is deeply sorry. bows and begs forgiveness Would you care for a cup of tea?

**Happyangel123:** You ask many questions...if I answer them, it will give away so much of the coming plot. LOL... patience, my sweet child. The battle is just beginning.

**Paisita:** Yes, koishii... I know you love this story. Gomen nasai for not writing review responses. Sessha is getting lazy and just plain depressed. Again, Sessha bows and thanks you for your letter and for the support and loving encouragement you sent to her. Arigato, shin-yuu. Arigato.

**Psychotic-catster:** BOING! There she goes... I swear... I see it. Every time. LOLOL. God, it's funny. I love you, you wild animal.

Alright, you got yourself confused... Listen to me. Stop bouncing all over the place and listen. :p Shishio is NOT Kenshin's brother, per say... He is the son of Pythagorus, the Father of the Corban family. Kenshin is a direct descendent of Pythagorus. Shishio is being sarcastic when he calls Kenshin 'little brother'. They would be more like distant cousins a million times removed, or Uncle and nephew might be a better term.

:"( I hope you haven't lost interest. But, as long as it's taken me to update...I wouldn't blame you if you had.

**Demonwolf98:** Gomen nasai for the lateness of the update. Sessha is grateful for you kinds words and apologizes for the long wait.

**BelleDayNight:** I'm having fun with this... The sarcasm, the bantering... it's getting my brain going again. You know what I mean...

**Unforgiven Sin:** WoW! what a name! That is like... AWESOME! You say you have 'always' loved my writing... how long have you been reading it? I am wracking my brain trying to remember your name, and it is not coming back to me. Sessha does have some memory problems, she's old, you know. _(kneels and bangs head on floor)_ If she has forgotten you, Sessha begs forgiveness. She also wishes to tell you that your name has given her an idea for a chapter scene. She will not forget it in the future. The image of the scene and the name will tie you to her mind now. It will be impossible for her to forget. Arigato, for the inspiration... Gomen nasai if she has offended you with her forgetfulness.


	20. The Making of A Vampire

A/N: God Bless and Thank-you to everyone who has waited so patiently. This chapter has been a work-in-progress for almost 3 months. I have dabbled at it a little at a time throughout my absence. I am hoping to be getting back to this story soon. Forgive the absence of review responses. They have been deemed against fanfiction policy. I will be updating this story on both MediaMiner, under my alternate penname, Mangetsu, and on AdultFanfiction. I am strongly considering moving my account to MediaMiner for good. They allow Review Responses. I would, however, need to know from the readers here if you want a censored version to be made available. God bless, Tsuki-san.

Chapter Twenty

The Making of a Vampire

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Ormond Estate

Friday Night, 8:09 p.m.

April 23, 2004

Hajime Saitou

Tokio Takagi

Arturo Patronii-Saitou

Corrinna

The news flashed through the vampire ranks like wildfire, spreading outward from Philadelphia and reaching past the Asian borders within days. The Master was preparing to claim a human as his heir. The bond was established and the allegiance cemented. Artruo Patronii had been turned by The Master himself and given a new name to reflect his altered status.

Arturo Saitou stood quietly in front of the dark window looking out into the night marveling at the astounding changes that had come over his body since The Master turned him. His vision was so sharp he could practically make out every pebble, every blade of grass, he even fancied that he could see the waves of the wind as it blew over the shadowy land. And the sounds. Every tone and nuance of sound was his to embrace and savor as it flitted past his newly enhanced hearing.

'_How have I survived all these years without this?' _He asked himself as he allowed his new senses to reach out around him and perceive the world. _'It is as if I have been wandering in darkness all my life and now I have finally been given the gift of sight. I can see everything, hear everything, feel everything. My soul is at last full and complete. I am content.'_

Because Saitou was so old and his blood so ancient, Arturo had been born more powerful than any other newly turned vampire. His strength was unparalleled by that of his fanged comrades and the air of superiority that surrounded him gained him the immediate respect his new station required. As the claimed son of The Master, Arturo now stood in the second most powerful position within the order. Not even other ancients dared dispute his favor with their Lord, and he found himself the recipient of many jealous, but respectful looks.

'_Now I truly am the right hand of the Devil.' _He thought as he turned from the window and exited the drawing room. The hunger was upon him and he knew he needed to feed soon. His eyes sparkled with anticipation as he headed for the front door of the mansion. The thrill of the hunt, the chase, the seduction–it was all his to enjoy now and he warmed to his new life eagerly.

"You are leaving?"

"Yes, Father. But I will return soon." A brilliant smile crossed the young vampire's face as he took in the elegant features of his maker. "You know I never stay out for long."

"Indeed. You are not a greedy hunter, and I am proud of you for that."

"You are?" Arturo gazed in wonder into the sparkling amber eyes. "Why does that make you proud?"

"Because, my son, a greedy hunter is a careless one. You are not careless, nor are you flamboyant with your new gifts and that makes me proud." Saitou walked over to his new son and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You are a fine vampire, Arturo, and a credit to your father's house. I should have turned you long ago, dear one."

"No, Father. I was not ready before. There was much for me to learn before I was worthy to stand beside you in this world. I pray I am always deserving of your pride in me."

"You will be, my son. Of that I have no doubt." A brief kiss passed between them as Saitou brushed his lips over the top of his son's. "Now go, feed and replenish yourself and then return to me. We have much to talk about this night."

"Si, Father. I will return soon, I give you my word."

"Aye, see that you do." And with a laugh, Saitou pushed his new son toward the door. "Just remember to clean up after yourself."

"Si, Father. I will... don't I always?" The laughter was inside his voice as Arturo threw his father a devilish smile over his shoulder. "Do you want me to bring you anything back?"

"No, just yourself, boy. And don't be late."

"Of course not." A chuckled echoed through the hall as the door opened and closed behind him. _'I will be back soon.' _

Saitou smiled and shook his head when the lilting voice filtered through his mind. Usually it took a vampire several years to master the gift of mind speech, but not Arturo. The man seemed to have been destined to be a vampire because his body had accepted and evolved into his powers so easily and quickly. Even Saitou was surprised by the young vampires strength and aptitude in the ways of the blood-born. It was a natural gift within the man, and his growing power could not be denied.

"You love him, don't you?"

Saitou turned and looked up meeting the dancing brown eyes of his lover as she walked down the stairs. "Aye, does it show so much?"

"To me," she replied as she approached him and cupped his face in her hands. "You have for many years, _stapan, _it just took your turning him for you to realize it within you."

"Aye, perhaps, but you must admit he is a fine creation."

"Yes, he is. The finest you have ever sired... besides me."

Saitou laughed and wrapped his arms around the smiling woman before him. "Indeed, my love, I concede. You are without a doubt the finest creation I ever made, and I thank the powers that be constantly for you."

"Constantly? So does that mean you thought of me while we were apart?" She sounded wistful and Saitou leaned down to nuzzle her cheek.

"Aye, _simpatie, _I thought of you often. Perhaps more than you realize."

"I am glad. It would have been tragic if I were the only one pining in this relationship."

"Pining?" He brushed his lips over the top of hers and then licked her bottom lip seductively. "Did you pine for me, _lubit_?"

"Yes, you know I did." Tokio stood on tip-toe and wrapped her arms around his neck. "It was agony for me to be away from you for so long."

"Then I will make certain you are not out of my sight for more than a few hours at a time, _simpatie. _I do not want you to suffer without my presence any longer."

"What do you mean, Hajime?" Her eyes searched his face as she tried to understand the meaning behind his words. "Are you saying you want me to stay with you... all the time?"

"Aye, that is what I am saying, _lubit. _Would that be an acceptable change in circumstance for you... for us?" Carefully he watched as the emotions sifted across her face until, at last, a glorious smile curved her full lips.

"Yes, that would be most acceptable, _stapan._"

"That is good," he murmured as he feathered kisses over her beautiful face. "I hoped it would be."

"How could you think it would be anything else?"

"I didn't, but I wanted to hear you say it." A devious grin slipped over his mouth as he heard her laugh.

"You are an arrogant beast." She said as she pressed herself into him. "But I love you so much it doesn't seem to matter."

"And for that I am grateful, my love, as I have come to realize my life is much more satisfying with you in it." Whatever she was about to say in return was effectively smothered by his kiss as he covered her mouth with his. Her giggles vibrated against his lips and he found himself laughing with her. "What a wonder you are to me, _simpatie. _How is it that only you seem to be able to find the joy within me when no one else inspires anything more than disdain or tolerance in my soul?"

"Because you love me, mighty _stapan,_ and that makes you vulnerable to my charms."

"Vulnerable? Bah! That will be the day." And with a growl of hunger he claimed her mouth again in a bruising kiss while his arms molded her softness against his chest.

A long sigh drifted free of her and she relaxed in his embrace, giving herself up to his passion as the heat of desire rose within her. "I love you." She breathed against the pressure of his lips. "And I will always stay by your side."

"See that you do, my _nevasta, _see that you do."

OooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooooOooooooooooo

He could smell her. Sweet, musky, like the scent of jasmine and gardenias inside a hothouse. Her skin was smooth and silky to his touch and as he slipped a hand inside her bodice to cup a full breast, the heat of her nearly burned his palm.

"Beautiful," he whispered as he trailed his lips over her jawline and then down to her throat where her pulse pounded almost painfully beneath the soft flesh. "Utterly beautiful." He felt her tremble as his fingers found her nipple and lightly pinched it into a hard, tight bud of passion. A small cry of pleasure split her lips as his tongue slid sensuously over the arch of her neck and his teeth nipped at her earlobe. "You belong to me now, don't you?"

"Yessss," the admission was husky with need and rising passion as she turned into his caressing lips and dipped her tongue into his open mouth. "I belong to you."

"Then give yourself to me," he whispered raggedly and was rewarded when her head fell back baring her throat to his eyes. "Mine." He growled and swooped in to sink his fangs deep within her carotid, marveling at the rushing surge of her blood as it poured over his tongue. Her heartbeat thundered in his ears like a great drum beating out the cadence of her life as it pumped her essence into his mouth, and he felt her growing limp within his arms. So soon it seemed to be over and he was lowering her flaccid body to the ground where he cradled her against his chest, drawing the life from her drop by precious drop.

No sound escaped her as she gave up her life to feed his, and Arturo felt a rush of respect flow through him as her blood filled his soul. She was not afraid, he could feel that within her and suddenly he did not want to claim her life. He did not want to leave her cold and bloodless to be found by some stranger who would not know how magnificent she was. So, pulling his fangs free of her, he gazed into her pale face and waited to see if he was too late, but the shallow rise and fall of her full bosom assured him that she still lived.

"Forgive me," he said as he picked her up and carried her toward his car. "I should have never touched you." Tenderly he lay her in the cool leather of the front seat and leaned it back so it cradled her lovingly. "I will get you some help." The engine roared to life when he turned the key and in a moment he was driving toward an all-night clinic. He would leave her outside where they would find her easily and then he would be finished with her. He would have to find another to satisfy his hunger this night for it would not be her.

Leaving her outside the clinic was simple enough, but as he drove away, Arturo wondered at the wiseness of his decision. His father had always been so explicit about not leaving any clues or secrets behind after his kills, and this did not seem to fall into the category of being thorough. But the longer he considered it, the more certain he was he had done the right thing. With the loss of enough blood her memory would be hazy and inaccurate so he believed he was still safe. She would not betray him.

However, as he drove away, Arturo felt a longing for her pulling at his vitals. What was it about her that would not let go of him? Her courage, her strength, her beauty? The memory of her flawless raven locks slipping through his fingers and the heat of her pale green gaze haunted him and called out to him. Stopping the car he gripped the steering wheel as if it were a lifeline and he was a drowning man.

"What is wrong with me?" He rasped as the need to go back for her consumed him. "Father will have my head for this."

The car turned around in the middle of the road and Arturo raced back to the clinic where he found her laying in the same place he put her. Gathering her into his arms, he pulled her up next to his chest and cradled her head in one of his hands. Her face was exquisite, pale as mothers milk in the moonlight, and as he gazed longingly down upon her, her fragile eyelids fluttered and then opened revealing her magnificent eyes to him. Arturo caught his breath as their gazes locked and held.

"Y–you came back for m-me." Her voice was sluggish with blood loss but the strength of her spirit blazed from her eyes as she looked up into his fine features. "Finish what you started." Moaning deep inside his chest, the young vampire buried his face in her throat and found the wounds he made only a short time ago. His fangs sank in once more and he pulled the living spirit from her as he drank her to the point of near death.

"You really are mine." He spoke gently as he lifted his wrist to his mouth and bit down hard, opening a bloody wound. "Come back to me now." And he wiped the blood across her lips waiting for her to accept or refuse his offer. A low moan slipped out of her mouth and then she was licking at the wound, tentatively at first, and then with more fervor as the flavor of his being sang through her senses. "That's it, my rose." He said as he pressed the blood into her mouth. "Drink and become one with me. Come and be my love, my mate... my _wife_."

The words fell from his lips in a humble rush and Arturo knew he meant each and every one. She was his mate, he could feel it as her body became warm and pliant within his arms again. The quickening of life pulsed through her as his blood slid over her tongue and became a part of her. The energy of her soul reached out and melded with his and suddenly he knew her every thought.

"You love me?" He looked down on her in wonder as the emotions within her became his own. "You knew what I was and wanted to be with me? How is that possible?" Her body shuddered against him and he pulled his wrist away from her hungry mouth so he could see her face more fully. "How did you know what I was?"

"I could feel the presence upon you." She said as her firm, pink tongue appeared to lick the blood off her lips. "And I wanted you."

"But how is it you know about our kind? Have you been introduced to one of us before?"

"No, but I have always known there were vampires among us, it was just a matter of finding one to prove it to myself. However, I was not prepared for the likes of you, my dark love." A smile of pure sensuality curved her luscious red lips and she leaned into him. "You were a complete surprise."

"As were you." He said in return, pulling her closer to him. "I would have never expected to find a woman so beautiful who wanted to join me inside this world of darkness and blood." He nuzzled into her throat and licked the fresh wounds that were still visible on her neck and she shuddered against him. "Tell me your name, little one. Tell me your name that I may know how to address my mate."

"I am Corrinna." She said, lifting her hand and stroking his cheek tenderly.

"Corrinna..." He smiled down at her and combed his fingers through the silk of her hair. "I am Arturo, my beautiful rose. I am son to the most powerful man in this world, and like you, I am a fledgling. But because his blood is so ancient and so strong, we will be strong from the beginning. Do you feel it, Corrinna? Do you feel the strength flowing through you?"

Her large, pale eyes blinked and then filled with curiosity as she let her senses reach inward to feel the amazing sensations taking place within her body. "Yes, I can feel it. I–I thought it was supposed to hurt? It always does in the movies."

Arturo laughed and kissed her pouting mouth with tender lips. "This is not the movies, my love. There is no pain in the change, only warmth and wonder, knowledge and strength, love and joy."

"Is–is it always like this?" She asked as the burning sensation spread outward from her heart to her extremities giving her the feeling of being immersed in a hot spring of bubbling mineral water.

"No, for some, their Maker is not so involved or so generous and their changing is one of purpose only. Those 'sharing of blood' moments are sterile and unemotional. There is no satisfaction or bonding in the coming together."

"That sounds so... so sad." Her eyes locked with his and she rubbed her fingertips over his mouth. "Why would a Master make something he did not love or want to be a part of?"

"Much of the reason is simply a means to an end, _Querido-Rosa. _When One is required to go where the Master cannot or should not, then One is 'made' and given that purpose as is necessary."

"Is it always that...that empty?" She looked worried and Arturo could feel her unease.

"No, my Master does not believe in empty bondings. He has always offered more than just his blood when he makes one of his own. He offers a piece of his soul as well, and the fledgling becomes a part of him in body and spirit." A dreamy quality filled the rich honey colored eyes-vampire eyes-as Arturo recalled the almost womb-like sensations he experienced when he bonded with Master Saitou. He'd been transported to the center of the Universe where the Cosmos and the energy of creation collided becoming one, and he saw the birth of Uriel Gustov's dream. The Vision of The New Order and it was glorious. "I was filled with more life than I ever embraced as a human, and I find myself wishing he'd turned me years ago."

"Teach me," Corrinna sat up in his arms, her sparkling eyes wide with wonder. "Show me. Show me everything."

"Everything, _Querido-Rosa_?" He asked, one thin, black brow arching as he examined her fine-boned features.

"Yes, everything."

"As you wish, _Mi Amor_," he whispered, nuzzling into her neck once more. "As you wish, but remember, it was your desire to know."

**qpqpqpqpqpqpqp**

New York City–Ellis Island

Black Lands Complex

Friday night--7:42 p.m.

April 23, 2004

Kenshin Himura/Cel

Kaoru Kamiya

Sanosuke Sagara

Crede Corban

Hiko Seigero

Aoshi Shinomori

Cody

Okita

Shishio Makato/Milos

"Fucking hell!" Hiko screamed, grabbing his head in both hands as pain lanced through the temples. "What the hell happened...Major Shinomori?" The connection with Cel was severed so abruptly it could mean only one thing. "Major?"

"General?" Aoshi was running at full speed when he came to a foot shuffling halt at the distressed officer's side. "What's wrong, sir?" He put a hand on the larger man's humped back in deep concern. "General?"

"Blow the alarms, Major. We have a full security breach topside."

"Shit..."

"Three full squads of your Slayers and whatever else you think will help... and get those damn lights on for God's sake. Lord Cel is up there with my daughter... and Prince Crede."

Aoshi froze. "Price Crede is here...?"

"Aye." Green eyes locked with icy blue. "Move Major. Lord Cel tells me there are about a hundred 'Made' up there, so break out the ultra-violets and the rest of the hardware."

"Yes sir." Aoshi turned to leave, but Hiko stopped him for one more order.

"Be careful up there, Major. Lord Cel's brought Himura's human Police partner with them. Find him and make every effort to keep him from being harmed in any way...especially by the 'Made'. Don't let him be turned. If they get any inkling of who and how important he is, they'll try to grab him out from under us."

"Aye, General." Nodding with a firm decisiveness, Aoshi turned and ran towards the Slayers barracks, one thought in his mind. '_Lord Cel AND Prince Crede are both here...Mother help us not to be too late...we can't be too late.'_

They were rolling under the waves, arms, legs, and hair intertwined in tangles of fury and unrequited rage. Blood sifted through the cold, salty water as fangs snapped and found flesh, ripping and tearing, leaving wounds that lasted only moments before disappearing as if they'd never been. Neither would bend, give, or surrender, and death seemed the only conclusion to their battle of wills... death or eternity battling hand to hand.

The Fang and The Immortal.

He was changing again. He could feel it in his blood and his bones. What was happening to him? He wasn't sure, but suddenly the pain in his chest was gone and he wasn't starving for air. The roar of his own blood pounding in his ears ceased and his mind became calm, placid, filled with images of the White Void. Energy was flowing directly from the Mother. He could see it. It was like a long winding silver string that reached back from his spinal cord into the Void where it was attached to shimmering sphere of incandescent green, pulsing with life.

'_Power,' _The idea unfolded inside his mind like fragile butterfly wings and he opened his eyes, looking through the dark, blood filled water into the face of his ancient brother. _'You want the Power...the Glory...the Pure Strength that exists in the blood...our blood, and you want to be the only one.' _Cel's fingers tingled and he felt the bone structure solidify and harden to an iron quality even as the talons grew beyond their usual two inch length.

'_Evolution...it's left you behind, my brother. You are obsolete in this world and I cannot let you continue to exist within it.' _Strength beyond his imagination surged through his body and he had the knowledge that they were equals in all things. Longevity, regeneration, senses, and knowledge, yet Cel knew he had an advantage. He had The Mother, Milos did not. Milos might be The Avenging Immortal, but he did not have the strength and power of The Mother inside his heart.

Cel had the advantage of Living Energy on his side, and that made him the only individual in the Universe who could lay claim to Milos Corban's life. He was Milos' Achilles Heel. His one weakness.

Reaching deep inside of his soul, Cel sent his power outward and struck his brother as hard as he could, sending him flying out of the surf like a broken doll. _'Beware my wrath, Brother!' _He screamed inside of Milo's head as the other vampire slammed into the side of the old, derelict building, bricks and mortar exploding around him. _'Your days on this earth are numbered, and then I will make you pay for what you have done to our people.'_

Crede grabbed Kaoru as she stumbled back from the water's edge, her head snapping back as Shisho's trajectory took his body over the top of her. Both of them fell to the ground, damp sand squishing beneath them as they landed hard, Crede taking the brunt of the weight upon himself.

"Kenshin!" Kaoru screamed, scrambling to her feet and running toward the vampire who was now slumped on the ground. "Kenshin?"

"NU!" Crede wrenched her back with enough force to practically pulled her off her feet again. "It is not The Fang... It is... it is the 'other'. You must not get close to 'him'."

"Not Kenshin?"

"Nu, feel his energy. It is... wrong."Crede's deep blue eyes narrowed into slits of intense caution as he pulled Kaoru to the side. "He is only stunned. We must stay out of the way."

"But where is Kenshin?" Kaoru was searching the beach wildly, trying to struggle out of the Prince's embrace. "I have to find him. Where is he?"

'_I am here, Lubit.' _The calm, rich tones of 'Cel' entered Kaoru's mind and she was suddenly still, her face frozen in shock and incredulity. The energy and power behind those few words so far exceeded anything she had previously felt from her mate that it left her immobile with awe and fear. _'Go with Grandfather...stay clear, my love, do not get in OUR way.'_

"Ken-san..." Crede felt Kaoru tremble even as his own soul shrunk back in awe struck bewilderment. His eyes were looking at something his mind was telling him could not be real, but his heart recognized the blood and the spirit despite the alarming changes. "Saints of the Mother save us."

"Simpatie... how...?" Kaoru covered her mouth with both hands and collapsed, her knees buckling, pulling the Prince back down to the sand. "Dear God, is that you?"

The being walking out of the surf was neither the 'Cel' she remember, nor the Kenshin she knew. He was something else. An aura of green pulsed around his body as he stepped out of the water, and the glowing lanterns of his golden eyes illuminated an area of ten to twelve feet of the beach. His hair was a tangled mass of tentacles wrapping around a body that was all but nude, his clothing shredded by Milo's fangs and talons, and with a blindingly quick movement, he threw off the remnants of his coat and shirt.

Fangs that were nearly two and half inches long gnashed the air and a feral hiss of promised violence split his lips as he crouched, surveying the scene. His four inch talons clicked menacingly when he spotted the other vampire, who was attempting to shake off the fog in his temporarily befuddled brain. Muscles across his shoulders, down his arms, and over his chest bunched and contracted with suppressed power, and a low dangerous growl rumbled out of his chest.

"_Milos."_

Milos shook his head violently, trying to clear his head. Pain lanced up and down his spine and he gritted his teeth, bracing himself against the agony he knew he'd feel when he stood up. _'This child will not be making me a fool.' _He snarled to himself as he forced his vision to clear. _'I am not allowing this to be happening. I will eat his heart first.' _

All of his previous posturing and flippancy about 'Cel' was forgotten, and the need to feel the fledglings bones crumbling in his hands became equal only to his need to consume the old blood. In the moments of combat he shared with his 'brother', Milos realized that though the boy was a halfling, he harbored enormous power; more than even Uriel understood, and he could, indeed, be the end of all their hopes and plans. It was the 'old blood' he sensed coursing inside the fledgling that concerned him the most. It was pure, almost as if it were syphoned directly from the Dark God himself. But Milos knew that was impossible. Even if 'Cel' had somehow learned the art of transition, there was no way he could reach the plane of the Ancient Dead, but from where did he get the blood? Prince Crede? Nu, even that blood was not strong enough to make him the creature he was evolving into. There was another source. There must be; however, he did not have time to dwell on the matter as a blurring streak of pale gray-blue rocketed toward him from the beach.

Milos' supernatural reflexes pulled him to his feet in a tornado's rush of whirling arms and whipping ropes of long, wet brown hair, but it was already too late. Cel's furious charge caught him midsection, the younger vampire's shoulder slamming into his gut with bone-crushing force. He heard the snapping and cracking sounds of several of his ribs breaking as his 'brother's' denser bone structure overpowered him, sending him, once more into the brick and mortar of the old building. Only this time he crashed through the crumbling wall, flying like a bale of straw, end over end through another partition until it landed in a cloud of pale, dust nearly a hundred feet away.

"Ooouummph!" More pain, exploding in his chest and the taste of his own blood in his mouth. "Noooo..." He rasped, reaching for the sky with a trembling hand. _'It cannot be... It cannot be...'_

** qpqpqpqpqpqpqpqp**

Lights erupted across the island, illuminating the old hospital and out-lying areas in an instant. Sano, Crede, and Kaoru were momentarily stunned by the abrupt brightness and threw their arms up to shield their eyes. They were immediately converged upon by a swarm of M -16 armed Made. Each rifle packing vampire was equipped with high-resolution protective eye-gear. In short, they were prepared for the lights, and the sudden change from the near black had no effect on them at all.

"Grab the girl!" A voice rose high, giving the orders in Shishio's absence. "She must be The Source if she's this close to 'Cel'. Grab her, The Master will want to see her."

"What about the old man and this human?" Crede and Sano were shoved to the side as Kaoru was seized by the arm.

"Leave them, they are nothing compared to the girl." The vampire reached out and grabbed Kaoru by the chin and yanked her face up close to his. "Pretty," he snarled, baring his fangs. "Gotta give the bastard that. At least he has good taste in women." He started to laugh, his comrades laughing with him, but it was short lived.

Kaoru's eyes turned an ungodly molten silver, her fangs lengthened, and her fine nails turned to razor sharp claws. As she looked up into her captor's face, she smiled and cocked her head to one side. He stopped laughing.

"What the fu..." A burst of energy exploded out from her, hammering into his chest like a massive fist made of stone, and his ribs caved in. His mouth opened and a gout of dark blood poured from him as his heart popped. Eyes wide with the surprise of death looked down at her for a split instant, and then he disintegrated into a puff of ash in the wind.

Cel's wrath had spoken against the one who threatened his Mate and penetrated her shield. His judgement was swift. The other vampire released her and stepped back, but he too was being judged. Cel's hand reached out and struck him a crushing blow, sweeping him across the ground like a broken boat on a stormy sea. Bones snapped, muscles tore, and then in a gory display of absolute superiority, Cel's shield tore the vampire's head free of his body and separated the two forever. More ash and dust for the wind.

"Holy shit... Jesus Christ..." Sano crouched on the ground, his hand covering his mouth, the remains of his chinese food in an nondescript amebic shape of acidic sludge just beyond his feet. "What is it with these fucking vamps?" He rasped. "Does everything have to be so damned... bloody?"

"Shut-up, Sano!" Kaoru roared at him, suddenly a version of herself he hadn't expected. "Pull your fucking nine and give me a hand."

"Wha..."

"Your gun, you idiot!" She shouted, pulling him to his feet. "Shoot them in the head. It works... Ahhh shit!" Kaoru lunged forward, her claw-tipped hand penetrating the body armor of the vampire bearing down on her. Blood gushed over her forearm as she twisted her wrist. The vampire screamed, the knife he was holding falling to the ground as he grabbed her throat, nails digging in.

"My Lady!" Crede leapt up from his place beside the shaken policeman and rushed toward Kaoru, his eyes gleaming a brilliant crimson. But as he reached her, she yanked her hand free, tearing the dead heart out of the mangled hole she created and the vampire fell to dust before he could inflict any damage to her. Crede stopped and looked at the sifting pile of ash, then he looked at her. "Are you alright?"

"Desigur, Your Highness, but there are a lot more them... Look." She pointed and Crede clicked his fangs.

"It is time we all prove ourselves, nu, My Lady?"

"It is." Her eyes trailed off to the side as she searched the rising dust for her mate. "Kenshin?"

"We cannot help him," He said, bowing his head. "But we cannot forsake his cause."

"Nope, we can't do that." Sano's voice was shaky but he was at least on his feet. "I'm with ya... just tell me what to do."

"Shoot them, Sanosuke." Crede said in a level voice, resting his hand on the tall man's shoulder. "Shoot them in the head, and leave the rest to us."

"Yeah, okay... I can do that. Just shoot the bastards in the head. That's what advanced marksmanship is for. Yeah..."

"And whatever you do, Sanosuke... don't let any of them bite you. Understand?"

"Sure, not a problem... that's easy for you to say."

** qpqpqpqpqpqpqpqpqp**

"Open the outside doors!" Aoshi was already running up the ramp, three squads of his Slayers behind him. "I want flanking positions, Okita," he locked eyes with the Captain. "Take the first squad and find a position on the east side of the island where the motion detectors are going off."

"Yes, sir." Okita nodded and waved his hand, taking twenty armed vampires with him as he disappeared into the dark. They had opted to leave the lights off after the psychic conversation between Cel and the General. They weren't going to make any difference to the outcome of this battle.

"Cody?" Aoshi barked, looking for the young Corporal.

"Sir?"

"You take the next squad and close things up on the west side. I want to box these assholes in–understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"The rest of you are with me. We're going to crawl right down their throats." His eyes glittered vermilion as his bloodlust and anger rose. "We're going to teach these walking corpses what it means to play with the big dogs." The slicing sounds of his dual kodachi blades slipping from his overlong sheath sent shivers along the nerve endings of his squad, transferring the energy of his malicious intent to their warrior spirits. "Remember, use your steel to cut off their heads. It's easier than a stake, and you don't have to get as close."

"You got it, Major." Smiles flashed and fangs clicked as Aoshi's squad followed suit, drawing their katanas and falling in behind him. It was going to be a bloody night full of death and of ashes. Some of them wouldn't go back inside, but that was the glory of a warrior's life–and death. To die for the better good was an honor. One any of them would gladly embrace. "We're right behind you, sir.

It was beginning.

TBC

Thank-you for supporting this story. Please review and make a comment about the censored version of this epic on MediaMiner. KnT


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